The Supreme Court is debating a couple things this week, and as a result people have been posting a certain picture on facebook, and other people have been posting "rebuttal pictures" on facebook. I can definitely say I have facebook friends on both sides of the issue! This has gotten me thinking about tolerance.
It used to be that tolerance meant that if someone else believes something different than you do, if you are tolerant you allow them their right to believe whatever they want, even though it contradicts your beliefs.
I think this is no longer the cultural definition of tolerance. These days, tolerance means: "I believe something, and if you believe the opposite, you are a hateful, close-minded bigot." It seems that if you are on one side of an issue, you are automatically "tolerant." But if you are on the other side of the issue, you are mean and do not have any right to believe what you believe, because it might hurt someone's feelings.
It also seems that this definition of tolerance condemns people on one side of an issue for ANYTHING they may do or say, no matter HOW it is done or said, simply because of their beliefs. However, it gives people on the other side of the issue a free ticket to do or say WHATEVER they want, simply because of their beliefs. It is a very one-sided definition of tolerance that does not allow for respectful disagreement.
Ok, I'll get off my soapbox now.
No comments:
Post a Comment