From my point of view, tolerance is not a matter of absolute right and wrong, it is simply about creating the best possible space for the greatest number of people.
Tolerance to each other is a way of avoiding fights and wars, which are one of the most extreme and unpleasant things people go through.
When we refuse to tolerate a particular set of actions, it is the same principle. Someone who acts agressively or abusively or cruelly to another person is not acting in the interests of people generally.
As for ideas, well, I think that is different. Does a person act on those ideas? If my idea is "Death to all Extremists!" then that, in itself, is not worthy of intolerance. What are you going to do? Kill me for it? On the other hand if I stand on the street corner at 3.00am and bellow it through a megaphone, perhaps you would be justified in not tolerating me.
When people talk of tolerance, they are not talking about things such as tolerating the invasion of their country. But they are saying, "Let someone think how they want to think." Speaking about ideas is usually permissible, up to the point when it impinges on someone's freedom. Doing it in the correct forum is acceptable. Going on and on about something, during say, a long and cramped car journey, crosses the boundary and enters the area of impinging on others' freedoms.
There are grey areas. For example, if someone I love decides to do something extreme to themselves, say, cutting their arms, then I have to make a decision whether to intervene. Such interventions are acts of compassion, but we are on dicey ground here, and need to proceed very, very carefully.
Not only tolerance, but respect is needed. The two should always go hand in hand. And respect requires understanding, which in turn can't be gained without a certain degree of tolerance.
There aren't any hard-fast answers here, it requires an ever-changing and mature sensitivity to each other. To exercise tolerance is to enter the rough and tumble of life with a view to making it less rough.
In some cases, it could be thought of as a passive form of kindness. Kindness that intervenes in some way has the potential to unwittingly do a good deal more harm, however well intentioned. Unless requested, such kindness should be exercised with great caution. But no-one should have to ask for tolerance.
That probably isn't an exhaustive view of tolerance, but it is the one I generally hold.
Best,
Gram
Tolerance to each other is a way of avoiding fights and wars, which are one of the most extreme and unpleasant things people go through.
When we refuse to tolerate a particular set of actions, it is the same principle. Someone who acts agressively or abusively or cruelly to another person is not acting in the interests of people generally.
As for ideas, well, I think that is different. Does a person act on those ideas? If my idea is "Death to all Extremists!" then that, in itself, is not worthy of intolerance. What are you going to do? Kill me for it? On the other hand if I stand on the street corner at 3.00am and bellow it through a megaphone, perhaps you would be justified in not tolerating me.
When people talk of tolerance, they are not talking about things such as tolerating the invasion of their country. But they are saying, "Let someone think how they want to think." Speaking about ideas is usually permissible, up to the point when it impinges on someone's freedom. Doing it in the correct forum is acceptable. Going on and on about something, during say, a long and cramped car journey, crosses the boundary and enters the area of impinging on others' freedoms.
There are grey areas. For example, if someone I love decides to do something extreme to themselves, say, cutting their arms, then I have to make a decision whether to intervene. Such interventions are acts of compassion, but we are on dicey ground here, and need to proceed very, very carefully.
Not only tolerance, but respect is needed. The two should always go hand in hand. And respect requires understanding, which in turn can't be gained without a certain degree of tolerance.
There aren't any hard-fast answers here, it requires an ever-changing and mature sensitivity to each other. To exercise tolerance is to enter the rough and tumble of life with a view to making it less rough.
In some cases, it could be thought of as a passive form of kindness. Kindness that intervenes in some way has the potential to unwittingly do a good deal more harm, however well intentioned. Unless requested, such kindness should be exercised with great caution. But no-one should have to ask for tolerance.
That probably isn't an exhaustive view of tolerance, but it is the one I generally hold.
Best,
Gram
Gramlin's in the System!
