Exactly! This is something that's been bugging me about this board lately, seeing people using epithets like this, and then expecting the people they're talking about to respond respectfully. Or maybe they don't expect that, and what they're trying to do is provoke someone, I don't now. But you may as well walk up to someone on the street and say, "Hey Stupid, how ya doing?" and expect to get a handshake in response. It certainly has no place in civil conversation, and as far as I am concerned, you may as well be wearing a button that says, "I am a bigot." bigot –noun a person who is utterly intolerant of any differing creed, belief, or opinion.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bigot