Tolerance means having the capacity to allow and/or respect the beliefs, customs, whatever of another person. I agree with that. I endorse the idea of tolerance as defined. It does not mean acceptance and/or sanction of those beliefs, customs, whatever; only acceptance of the other person’s right to have them. Just because I accept that you can think like a shit-for-brains if you want doesn’t mean I agree with you. Nor does it absolve you of the responsibility for your beliefs and any behavior you may exhibit as a result of those beliefs. You get free speech to advocate your attempts to intrude into my life. I get free speech to tell you to go muck a fuffalo. In 1952, William O. Douglas, Supreme Court Justice, said “The great danger of this period is neither inflation nor the national debt. The great, the critical danger is that we will so limit or narrow the range of permissible discussions and permissible thought that we will become victims of the orthodox school… Our weakness grows when we become intolerant of opposing ideas, depart from the standards of civil liberties and borrow the policeman’s philosophy from the enemy we detest.” He could have been writing today.
Posted on: Fri, 08 Nov 2013 18:37:09 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015