What is True Tolerance?

There are different perspectives as to what "tolerance" is. The word of course has been around for a long time, but the meaning has changed. Over the years there have been many a political and moral substitution for the word through different historical movements. One political or religious group states a norm, and when others don't conform to what they establish, they are denounced for it. In the past at times, the consequences were tragic.

These days generally, when tolerance is brought up, it has a very negative connotation, even when one is proclaiming one's self to be so. Often when one in today's politically correct climate accuses someone else of intolerance it simply means that the "intolerant" individual does not share the same view of their accuser. Not always so, but generally. What follows is usually a detailed description of the accused person's shortcomings either intellectually or morally, or both.

This is known as the "loudest possible squeaking wheel demands the grease and all others can just get out of the way" tactic. A good example of this is the trend toward calling whoever disagrees with you a racist. That is happening more and more every day. Folks who didn't want Barack Obama to be president because of his stance on many issues were called racist. Someone implied my mother was a racist because she told them she didn't want him in office representing her. On a separate occasion, I was asked point blank by someone if I voted against Barack Obama based on his race.

Another example of political bullying under the guise of tolerance is that people who voted for Proposition 8 in CA two months ago are being called racists now, because same sex marriage advocates and homosexual rights activists are calling their cause a civil rights issue when it is nothing of the sort. Their position is that they were "born" gay, while I oppose that belief. Their tolerance for my position on the issue is non-existent because I disagree with them, and they believe my belief on the matter is intolerant. I believe they have the right to vote on issues put before the people just like I do, but still and others like me are seen as intolerant because they believe the majority has no right to vote on the rights of the minority. They see that is intolerant. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger sees the people's vote as intolerant too. The outcome of the vote has been compared by various politicians and celebrities to slavery laws, anti-interracial marriage statutes and voting rights for women. The Governor has vowed that the people's decision must be reversed through the court system.

The other night, I was chatting online at a Christian chat site. A young atheist woman told another chatter that Christians were obsessed about a particular sin. Without saying it, she painted an intolerant picture of the average Christian. I told the chatter that there would always be those who, because we hold to a Biblical worldview that sees things as sinful or not, that we would be seen as preoccupied with sin. Why? Because the world is steeped in sin, and they do not want dissenting voices.

We tolerate the sinner for the most part, but not the sin, and in this country, we still have the right to express our opinion. It will not be that way too much longer. Focus On the Family is not allowed now to broadcast some of their programming in Canada because of hate speech laws there. What hate? Shows about the sin of homosexuality and how to leave the lifestyle? What happened to choice? The tide will swell and eventually that wave will break into the United States too.

In my mind, in order for tolerance to be enacted, there must be differences of temperament, opinion or belief. As believers, if we are to be like Jesus we are going to love the lost enough to listen to them. Sometimes people become abusive and we discern that a conversation is a waste of time or even dangerous depending on the circumstances, but we are to love them even if we don't agree with them. It is the tolerant thing to do.