Intolerance and the Harm It Causes
While I understand that people all over the world have been taught to believe the way they do by their teachers, parents, and religious leaders. I do not necessarily agree with what they believe. Yet I do understand that most are taught to believe that way and therefore know only what they have been shown. Therefore their differences are a product of their society, culture, training and beliefs not a lack of intelligence or willingness to learn.
While I understand that people all over the world have been taught to believe the way they do by their teachers, parents, and religious leaders. I do not necessarily agree with what they believe. Yet I do understand that most are taught to believe that way and therefore know only what they have been shown. Therefore their differences are a product of their society, culture, training and beliefs not a lack of intelligence or willingness to learn.
Tolerance is something that is taught extensively in Christianity and yet many Christians I have met are some of the least tolerant people I know. Yet radical or fanatical fundamentalists in many religions can be severely intolerant and oppressive in how they rule a country or run a group, church or other aspects of their life as well. Intolerance is not just a problem for Christians or Americans; it runs rampant throughout the world’s population. It affects all countries, all races, all religions and all cultures.
However my beliefs are most likely as foreign to them as theirs are to me. So I can not fault someone for standing up for their beliefs. I can only fault those so intolerant as to refuse to even listen to another opinion or another person’s thoughts on a matter. I can only fault those unwilling to consider another’s point of view or beliefs. I can only fault those who have little or no tolerance for others or other opinions than their own.
Tolerance is hard for many people especially in America where the average person these days seems to think they know best how others should live and act. As evidenced by the proliferation of laws in the last couple decades that force more and more conformity and segment our society into ever widening gaps between those who agree and those who do not. So many forget that just because they do not like to do something or think it is silly or pointless does not mean others feel the same way. Just because one person believes something is bad or wrong does not make it so for others. There are as many opinions about most things as there are people. To try to force others to live, act and believe based on your personal opinions is more wrong than anything others may do. By trying to impose your standards, your beliefs or your sense of right and wrong on others is more of a crime than most other action anyone could take. It is the cause of more strife, war, tragedy, sadness and dysfunction in societies than anything else.
This is creating deep divisions in America and yet the vast majority refuses to even consider that their own intolerance is at least allowing this to go on if not helping or enabling it. It is destroying the fabric that makes America such a free and open society. It is undermining the very principles that America was founded and built upon. It is the single most important problem in America and most of the world that exists today. Yet the vastly overwhelming majority refuses to see or even consider it as even possibly existing in themselves. While so very many good decent human beings fail to recognize the problem or the danger it encompasses for all humanity, we continue to fall deeper into a recurring cycle of going overboard first one way then another.
Yet anytime someone disparages another person for their beliefs or opinions. Every time another person gets up and says I think this is wrong so we should make it illegal for everyone. Every time one belief says we are right and we need to force the rest of the world to believe as we do. Every time it only adds to the issues and forces the solutions to become much harder.
We must all work to understand each other whether we ever agree or not at least we must strive to understand that others can and do believe differently from us. We must remember it is okay for them to do so. Every person has a right to their own opinions and beliefs. It is our responsibility to be tolerant and understanding, not to be condescending or demanding of others simply because we disagree with them in some way.
One of the keys is to understand why another believes the way they do, even if we will never believe that way. It is still possible to understand others, other cultures and other beliefs even when we do not believe the same things. It is possible to be tolerant of another’s beliefs while disagreeing with them. It is possible to stand up for our beliefs without having to belittle others or be demeaned and degraded by others! It is still possible to agree to disagree while remaining friends and neighbors. It is not to late to start the pendulum swinging back towards tolerance and away from the repressive, the oppressive and the intolerant.
Douglas Wolfe
© February 6th 2008
