Why We Can’t Be Tolerant

These days, many people seem to be obsessed with the idea of “tolerance.”  We are supposed to allow everyone to do their own thing, while we do ours.  While I appreciate diversity of skin, culture, and backgrounds, I think that the idea of tolerance has been taken to an extreme.

Today, to be tolerant means that you ignore what others are doing, even if you disagree with it.  They can believe or do whatever, because it’s their right to do whatever.  Sometimes this can make us uncomfortable, especially with certain traditions or practices that we dislike or don’t understand.  Yet we tolerate anyway.  But is this type of tolerance really a good thing?

I’m not saying that we should go out and start judging everyone that is different.  What I am saying is that “tolerance” has made us gun shy and wishy-washy.  We are afraid to speak up or disagree with someone because then we may be labeled “intolerant.”  Under the guise of tolerance, we keep our beliefs to ourselves.  We don’t speak up.  We go with the flow while everyone does their own thing.  Is that really what we want?  To flow down a river when we don’t like the direction it’s headed?

What if Abraham Lincoln had been “tolerant” of the fact that Southerners owned slaves?  By today’s definition of tolerance, Abe should have let them own slaves because “it’s okay for them, but it’s not for me.”  That’s different, you may say.  And I ask how is it any different? This is the exact same logic!  If Abraham Lincoln did not stand up for his beliefs that slavery is wrong, our president today would certainly not be African-American.  Our country would not have progressed as much as it has.

What if America had been “tolerant” of the fact that Hitler liked killing Jews?  Well, they’re not even on our continent, we shouldn’t get involved. No, America believed that what Hitler was doing was wrong, and we stepped out according to that belief.

What if the original American colonists were tolerant of the British tax policies? We don’t like them, but that’s just the way things are. What if we were tolerant of Al-Qaeda practices?  Well, that’s their religion, not much we can do about them killing our people. How did we come to think that this sort of tolerance is a good thing?  The Qur’an says “Wherever you find infidels kill them; for whoever kills them shall have reward on the Day of Resurrection” (Hadith 9:4).  Well, I guess since it’s your religion, I’ll let you kill me. That doesn’t make any sense!

This can apply to other issues as well, such as gay marriage or abortion.  You ask why people get all uptight, why can’t they coexist and be tolerant, why do they hate gays, etc.  It’s not that they hate gays, it’s that they believe that engaging in the gay lifestyle is wrong, and they are saying so.  They’re simply standing up for their beliefs.

Are some people actually tolerant by today’s definition? Maybe, but they aren’t going to find much purpose in life, if they are just wandering around trying not to offend anyone.  When a man firmly believes in justice, he has to do something when he encounters injustice.  That’s just the way it works.  So are Christians tolerant by today’s standards?  Probably not, but that isn’t as bad as society would have you believe.  Christians are simply standing up for what they believe, as Abe Lincoln did.

To put it simply, tolerance is the virtue of a man without convictions.  If you have convictions, you  can’t be “tolerant”.