A Tolerant Lie
The Sexual Revolution, Generation X, the age of Aquarius, Live Fast Die Young; every generation has some sort of motto or title that is used to try to sum up the beliefs and behaviors of the people from that era and the current generation is no exception. The motto for this generation "Tolerance!" This generation boldly proclaims that we should be tolerant of every life choice, every religious belief, and every political point of view from gay marriage, to Islam, to adultery, we are told we should "mind our own business, and let everyone do what makes them happy." Sounds good right, if we let people do whatever they want, how ever they want, and with whomever they want, then the world will be a much better place, right?! I would say no, it isn't right and I will explain why I feel this way.
Really, the explanation is rather simple; 100% tolerance is not possible! Why? Well, lets look at the society of the "civilized" world. Throughout the world many cultures have the same set of basic beliefs such as lying, stealing, cheating on tests, murder, child molestation, and abusing in general, are all bad. Most societies also believe that people should be punished for such behaviors. This is why we have prisons that are so over crowded. However, notice I said most, because there are some societies that view abhorrent behaviors as acceptable. Certain sects of Mormons believe that having more than one wife is okay but the laws of this country label them polygamists and many people say it's disgusting. But this type of assertion, calling them "polygamists" shows judgment, which therefore demonstrates intolerance. We call those who kill mercilessly, monsters, but what if that is part of their belief system. For instance, suicide bombers believe that what they are doing is Allah's will and they will become martyrs for their faith. Most people who are not Muslim extremists call them terrorists. This also (right or wrong) would be called judgmental by today's standards, and therefore intolerant.
Not only is 100% Tolerance not possible, it should not be desirable. Despite the idea that tolerance brings peace, which is yet to be determined, the kind of tolerance this generation demands, serves to only turn us into intellectual zombies. Many of our freedoms were founded on "intolerance", we were intolerant to the ideas of slavery, religious persecution, and inequality. To the people who perpetrated these offenses, the acts of slavery, religious persecution, and segregation were perfectly acceptable. It was those who were willing to think beyond social "norms" that were able to break these patterns. Their intolerance toward cruelty and hate is what gained their heirs freedom from such evils. 100% Tolerance begs to stifle creative thinking, thinking outside the box because to disagree with someone else's point of view or life style is to "judge" someone else. An act that Tolerance forbids.
My final point for you to consider is the lopsided nature of the "social tolerance". Many of the very same groups that demand tolerance for their way of living refuse to show tolerance for other's way of living. Let's look at Atheists for a moment. Atheists demand that people be willing to "tolerate" or listen to their point of view but they wish to stifle the Christian point of view. They use the "law" to remove any mention of God from public places and many of them openly mock Christianity. Yet, the expect to have their view points accepted as valid under the same "law" that they use to muzzle other faiths. The ACLU also has a lopsided view of tolerance. They expect that entire world to be tolerant of groups such as atheists, the gay rights movements, and others but in their actions have the affect of oppressing the voices of others. If you look at the history of the ACLU you will see that many of their legal actions are intended to prevent one group or another from upholding their own beliefs. This is not conspiracy theory logic, it is the simple truth proven by the ACLU's own track record.
Today's concept of total tolerance is a lie built on the utopian idea that if you tolerate everyone and everything life will be so much better for everyone. However, as I hope I have conveyed above, total tolerance is not only not possible, it is also not desirable. If we become a society that lives by the "whatever makes you happy" theme of tolerance we become a society devoid of free thinking and emotional expression, the very things that make us who we are. Tolerance claims to perpetuate freedom of choice but at the same time limits such choices that might be considered offensive to others. The problem with this is that there will always be someone who is offended by another individual or groups actions regardless of how "tolerant" that group may claim to be. Just stop and think of all the things that people have claimed to be offended by through out the generations!
My suggestion to today's tolerant society is this. Stop trying to force everyone to accept your way of thinking, living, and speaking; and actually demonstrate love instead. Tolerance is not love, because by sheer definition tolerance means to accept other's beliefs and practices without interference (another subjective term). Love on the other hand does not demand we silence differing points of view. It does not demand we accept all things because God did not accept all thing. Love instead tells us that we can be free to express difference and to disagree but we most do so without hate or malice. Christ himself, who is to be our example of love, disagreed with those who lived outside scripture but rarely did so mercilessly or without kindness! We should follow the same example! Being willing to allow disagreement and debate while showing loving kindness when we do.
Not only is 100% Tolerance not possible, it should not be desirable. Despite the idea that tolerance brings peace, which is yet to be determined, the kind of tolerance this generation demands, serves to only turn us into intellectual zombies. Many of our freedoms were founded on "intolerance", we were intolerant to the ideas of slavery, religious persecution, and inequality. To the people who perpetrated these offenses, the acts of slavery, religious persecution, and segregation were perfectly acceptable. It was those who were willing to think beyond social "norms" that were able to break these patterns. Their intolerance toward cruelty and hate is what gained their heirs freedom from such evils. 100% Tolerance begs to stifle creative thinking, thinking outside the box because to disagree with someone else's point of view or life style is to "judge" someone else. An act that Tolerance forbids.
My final point for you to consider is the lopsided nature of the "social tolerance". Many of the very same groups that demand tolerance for their way of living refuse to show tolerance for other's way of living. Let's look at Atheists for a moment. Atheists demand that people be willing to "tolerate" or listen to their point of view but they wish to stifle the Christian point of view. They use the "law" to remove any mention of God from public places and many of them openly mock Christianity. Yet, the expect to have their view points accepted as valid under the same "law" that they use to muzzle other faiths. The ACLU also has a lopsided view of tolerance. They expect that entire world to be tolerant of groups such as atheists, the gay rights movements, and others but in their actions have the affect of oppressing the voices of others. If you look at the history of the ACLU you will see that many of their legal actions are intended to prevent one group or another from upholding their own beliefs. This is not conspiracy theory logic, it is the simple truth proven by the ACLU's own track record.
Today's concept of total tolerance is a lie built on the utopian idea that if you tolerate everyone and everything life will be so much better for everyone. However, as I hope I have conveyed above, total tolerance is not only not possible, it is also not desirable. If we become a society that lives by the "whatever makes you happy" theme of tolerance we become a society devoid of free thinking and emotional expression, the very things that make us who we are. Tolerance claims to perpetuate freedom of choice but at the same time limits such choices that might be considered offensive to others. The problem with this is that there will always be someone who is offended by another individual or groups actions regardless of how "tolerant" that group may claim to be. Just stop and think of all the things that people have claimed to be offended by through out the generations!
My suggestion to today's tolerant society is this. Stop trying to force everyone to accept your way of thinking, living, and speaking; and actually demonstrate love instead. Tolerance is not love, because by sheer definition tolerance means to accept other's beliefs and practices without interference (another subjective term). Love on the other hand does not demand we silence differing points of view. It does not demand we accept all things because God did not accept all thing. Love instead tells us that we can be free to express difference and to disagree but we most do so without hate or malice. Christ himself, who is to be our example of love, disagreed with those who lived outside scripture but rarely did so mercilessly or without kindness! We should follow the same example! Being willing to allow disagreement and debate while showing loving kindness when we do.
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