Tolerance is a Four Letter Word & Responses

Tolerance is a Four Letter Word

Hannah Mackie

Undergraduate/ English Education Major

While I disagree with some of the religion based articles recently submitted, I feel the need to express my views on something brought up briefly by these that is not based on religious beliefs. Tolerant is an unhealthy way to live. If everyone around the world grew up being taught to be tolerant of everyone else and their lifestyles and beliefs, there would be a huge amount of evil in the world. I am not saying that RESPECTing others and their beliefs is a bad thing in any way, but tolerating and respecting are two completely different concepts. As a society we need to be intolerant. We need to be angry even at times. We should not tolerate hate, oppression, or injustice. I am 100 percent intolerant of violence against women. I am intolerant of genocide and hate crimes. I am intolerant of sexism and racism. I am an intolerant person. I question and I doubt and I get pissed off when I see discrimination and disrespect. I do not agree with a lot of people on a lot of issues, but I respect their views. I will never claim to tolerate a point of view or a lifestyle, but I will respect them to the end.

The word “tolerate” almost brings about a sense of disrespect in many contexts. I have seen tolerance used to cover up hate and fear. I once had a friend explain that “We should not be concerned with accepting homosexuality because it is wrong, so we should tolerate it instead.” She showed me in few words that she could hate or disrespect the LGBT community in private as long as she appeared tolerant to others. Even look at what Mr. Saffert says. He states “that Christianity has retarded the collective progress of humanity,” an altogether not very respectful comment to Christians, and then later says that “You blast Christianity . . . but tolerance is a two way street.” It is clear to see that he is, whether intentionally or not, claiming that one can tolerate a belief system or group of people without showing them one ounce of respect. (Sorry Mr. Saffert, but reprimanding someone for disrespecting and stereotyping a group of people, telling him to be tolerant, then throwing the same abuse out does not make you any better and perfectly proves my point.)

Think about it: tolerance is basically indifference. Tolerance assisted greatly in every major genocide and controversy because it helped people believe that they were right not to speak up or fight back against what they disagreed with. Indifference made people stand on the side claiming that if they weren’t directly affected, they didn’t need to act. It seems like they run on parallel lines. These are lines that should be broken. Instead of tolerating and ignoring groups you don’t agree with, become intolerant and open up a conversation with them. Maybe you’ll learn something.

Response to Hannah:

Dear Ms. Mackie,

When I say that “tolerance is a two way street” I mean in regards to things protected by law and the Constitution, i.e. freedom of religion. I did not mean this in the way that you seemed to describe; I do not extend tolerance to hate groups or rapists or murderers, etc.. As for the whole “Christianity retarding the progress of humanity” comment, I don’t want the idea of me disliking actions taken in the name of Christianity conflated with me disliking Christians or Christianity as a whole. I was merely remarking on the fact that although I agreed with Mr. Gillick (as long as we are using formalities here) about the harm that some people of that faith have caused in the world, I did not see that as a reason to attack the entire belief system or to compare the people who followed it to Nazis, as Mr. Gillick did. The purpose of my letter was to show that condemning an easy target for criticism to gain support for your beliefs is wrong, and that people should be able to make up their minds on such matters independently. Sorry for any confusion. If I had more words to respond with, I would love to expound more on your letter, because in many ways I agree with it.

Respectfully yours,

Daniel Saffert

Undergraduate/English Literature

 



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