Got an email from a very nice-sounding lady who asks, "But isn't it important to be tolerant?"
Well, of course it is! The problem comes when we use the word "tolerance" when what we really want to convey is "approval." There are a great many things I tolerate, of which I most decidedly do not approve.
A woman is living with her boyfriend. I do not approve of this arrangement; I think it is detrimental to her dreams for her greatest happiness. However, I am not at her house grabbing her possessions into a box and demanding that she move out right this minute: I am tolerant of her decision, even though I dislike it.
Get the difference?
We are seeing a great misuse of words. People scream about "tolerance," especially those groups like the radical gay lobby, or the anti-marriage people... okay, let me be candid, here: it's liberals who talk about tolerance. Conservatives practice tolerance, liberals are among the most intolerant of disagreement of any group of people I've ever met. They're all for peace and harmony... so long as it is on their terms. They will brook no disagreements.
They call for "tolerance" of their ideas and their causes, yet they practice none, demanding the suppression of opposition and even resorting to dishonest or illegal means to get what they want.
This is not tolerance. It's an attempt to engineer society for their pleasure.
And it is, worst of all, dishonest.
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4 comments:
Amen! Preach it sister!!
Mary
Yes!!
Wow, Laura. I'm sorry, but I disagree. Intolerance is everywhere, including in the political left, as you say, but I think you have misunderstood what the lady meant when she remarked on the importance of being tolerant. She said, she doesn't agree with your opinions, but that IT IS OK for you to have those opinions, and she likes you and enjoys seeing what you have to say.
As a liberal (which is what you would call me, I'm sure), I do try to be tolerant of a wide range of opinions, and that does not mean I approve. My complaint with some conservatives is that many are not only intolerant but want to legislate their intolerance/disapproval. You and I might agree that a person's way of life is immoral or harmful to them, but I want to work on feeding hungry children rather than telling people what they can or can't do in the privacy of their own homes.
I hope you will enlarge on your comments about liberals "demanding the suppression of opposition and even resorting to dishonest or illegal means to get what they want." I really want to understand your point of view.
Paula, Hi!!!
It wasn't one woman, really, but an ongoing issue, one woman's comments sort of being the straw that broke, etc.
One example: homosexual "marriage." No civilization in history has ever recognized marriage between any two people but man and woman, but now, if I oppose this new political innovation I'm a homophobe? Gimme a break. It's the liberals who are trying to alter milennia of common morality - even of civilizations that had no scruple over any sort of sexual licentiousness, it's not the conservatives trying to "legislate morality."
More later, okay?
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