Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Tolerance - we hear it so much these days

And some times I get kinda sick of it.

This blog that Dani posted got me to thinking about it and reminded me of some things I've seen and observations I've made.

While Dani takes a Biblical approach, I'll go more for the realistic.

First a definition -

2 a: sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or
conflicting with one's own b: the act of allowing something : toleration


That's the only one I'm concerned with for this article. While that doesn't say 'all values, all beliefs, all lifestyles, all truth claims are equal' I can certainly see where one could get that impression.

Dani's blog tells me that tolerance is not in the Bible, and that would explain why fundamentalists are so intolerant. I guess we should all be more tolerant towards them. Seriously. If one is truly going to believe in the concept that is tolerance, then even intolerance should be tolerated. They believe their god does not show tolerance, and commands them not to as well. So tolerate it.

But here's what really gets me. I can't tell you how many times I have encountered someone that preaches tolerance, yet is actually rather intolerant. For example one that will speak out for religious tolerance, then protest a Christian holiday display in a public place. It's quite hypocritical if you think about it.

I was just taking a peep at Tolerance.org. They seem to be pretty intolerant of hate and bigotry. While I don't find that to be a bad thing, if one truly agrees with tolerance, shouldn't that be tolerated as well? Just a thought.

There's just as much talk these days about diversity. I've grown to loathe the idea. We seem to want to celebrate diversity by pointing out how we are different and hanging labels on each other. Wouldn't tolerance teach us to ignore that?

It would make more sense to me that a culture, a country even, should spend more time focusing on how it's people are the same. This is how a group, regardless of size, arrives at unity. If our founding fathers were about tolerance and diversity in the modern sense, we would still be bowing down to British royalty. This is how things get done. Come together on how you are the same, put aside how you are different. The very notion of diversity brings disunity. If some one's beliefs or lifestyle offend you, realize they have the freedom to do such. You have just as much freedom to offend them. To deny this impedes on one's freedom of speech and religion. Let's take this wise quote into consideration.

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say
it."


That's real tolerance, and not that modern form that can be rather intolerant. Here's a related quote -

"Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so too."


There's a great many things that we as human beings are going to disagree on. It's just a simple fact of life. We all have beliefs that make us intolerant of different things. It would not hurt any of us to learn more about people. Understand their motivations. Only then can we have any sense of tolerance. I don't think it is a bad ideal, I do however feel it is one that will never be totally realized.

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