It is a curious thing, tolerance. It isn’t in the list of seven virtues. It doesn’t make the list of the fruits of the Spirit. It doesn’t make the Ten Commandments. As a word, it is used only one time in the entire New Testament, and then only for God’s tolerance of us as human beings!
Let’s make one thing clear: practicing the virtue of tolerance does not mean always agreeing with other people. Yet too often many of us spend much of our time evaluating other opinions or viewpoints, eventually labeling anyone who disagrees with our opinions as intolerant. Now this is utter nonsense! Tolerance is the virtue of extending courtesy and respect when we don’t agree.
Here’s the balance to seek: trying to remain tolerant, when not in agreement. Any behavior that insists on agreement or lacks respect, courtesy, and openness in disagreement, is bound to get us into trouble. And as Voltaire ruefully observed, “Of all religions, Christianity is without a doubt the one that should inspire tolerance most, although, up to now, the Christians have been the most intolerant of all men.”
Great article! I wish I had a quarter for every time I heard that word thrown around as if it were a self-evident truth, and needed no clarification of what one should tolerate and what one shouldn’t. The misuse of “tolerance” may even rival “love.” One of my favorite lines is from that old Christian rocker, Larry Norman, “the Beatles said ‘all you need is love’ and then they broke up.”
But seriously, if readers want to look more deeply into this crucial topic, I have been impressed with Stanley Fish’s collection of essays, “The Trouble with Principle.” There’s great articles in there like, “Boutique Mulitculturalism” (we celebrate the diversity of North African food, and yet we will not tolerate female circumcision…do we believe in cultural tolerance or not?). Why do we protect pornography as free speech while we prosecute child porn? Isn’t this “intolerant” of people who have an inclination for such a thing? You get the idea. Of course, we in the British tradition have thought of tolerance as the essence of the gospel for a long, long time (John Locke considered tolerance “the” Christian virtue). Its an uphill battle.
“It isn’t in the list of seven virtues. It doesn’t make the list of the fruits of the Spirit. It doesn’t make the Ten Commandments.”
Nor will you find “inclusive”.
Just saying…
And the Episcopalians in Massachusetts are asking us to tolerate their “new thing” which is against God’s word. Toleration means that homosexuality is to be taught in Massachusetts schools, but not scripture. Shucks, there are so many examples of this “toleration”!!!
I dunno. Tolerance means I can’t physically attack someone who preaches against scripture, but I *should* be free to preach against them. However, my kind of preaching is fast becoming a hate crime.
I dunno.
In faith, Dave
Viva Texas
I personally find it very hard to be tolerant of lies that threaten people’s eternal souls. Notice how I used an “I message”?
I don’t know of anyone who feels respect for people who cooperate in shemes that undermine good things like marriage, and who reject the teachings of every world religion against sodomy. Notice how I include those outside my faith community?
If I’ve learned anything from this war, it is how to be politically correct. Works both ways, doesn’t it?
Chandler says intolerance resides most often with one who is in the majority. I dunno about that. If it is majority opinion that’s generally not true. The majority is the inclusive one, the minority is the one that’s shouting the majority is on the wrong watered down path.
Pardon me but I must pet this peeve. It is not fruitS of the Spirit it is fruit of the Spirit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
Look at the definition of tolerance. It can mean [i]a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from one’s own; freedom from bigotry OR the act or capacity of enduring; endurance. What I’ve seen and heard from my reasserter friends is not that they are bigots but they can’t endure any longer changes they [b]feel[/b] are harmful.[/i]
He is not speaking of tolerance, he is speaking of forbearance, which is probably a real virtue, that is, behavior which is right under all circumstances. And indeed, I have often argued that forbearance is what we REALLY want, not tolerance, since forbearance implies the refusal to apply permitted force for the sake of a finer purpose. AS I said in the earlier entry, tolerance cannot, by defintion, be limited, for if it is, it is not tolerance. The only perfectly tolerant man is one who has no standards whatsoever, so that all values are equally meaningless and therefore equally acceptable. Such a one we would call utterly amoral, and regard as dangerous to society. Larry
# 8 I think you are spot on, but I wrote the following before I read your post. I think we may be saying the same thing.
Actually this article proposes we all should learn and practice good manners. I agree I need to put up with stuff I don’t like. Which is fine up to a point. And that point is the author’s assumption that we can all agree on when we should stop being tolerant. Biting one’s tongue until you can’t take it any longer is not a Christian virtue. It is an excuse for finally retaliating because you have been so tolerant.
Practicing patience even while trying to convince others, or while opposing injustice, is a much more helpful approach. Its better because even when you have decided to be intolerant of something or somebody, you can still practice patience.
I have been helped by the writing of John Howard Yoder. Check out
“PATIENCE” AS METHOD IN MORAL REASONING: IS AN ETHIC OF DISCIPLESHIP “ABSOLUTE”?
John Howard Yoder, unpublished, drafted September 1992; last updated, August 1997.
Previously circulated to students as “moral theology miscellany.”
It can be found here
http://theology.nd.edu/people/research/yoder-john/documents/PATIENCE.pdf
AC
#8, the best sermon I ever heard was on just that point, how we need forbearance but against “the sin of tolerance” in the way that, as you said, perfect tolerance means no standards at all. Used to have the text but sadly a hard drive failure a few years ago ate it.