No one is tolerant of everything

[Az]

This is a problem we on the left face. Because we champion tolerance people expect us to be tolerant of everything. Thus when they glimpse us exhibiting intolerance to something they jump up and down screaming hypocrit. Tolerance as expressed as a social ideal is the idea of being tolerant of other's beliefs and actions within reason.

For the record I am intolerant of a number of things. First and foremost I am intolerant of intolerance. I despise those that deny others their rights. I loathe those that abuse weaker individuals. Form a group that is bent on taking away my rights and you will not be on my holiday card list. There are a host of reasons you can engender my animosity.

The idea of tolerance is not a black and white issue. Each person has their own criteria as to what falls within the justifiable. The nearest we can come to a common set of tolerant ideas are summed up within the Post Modern ethos. That is place no group above another. Allow everyone to have a voice in the process.

But these factors make it difficult to explain to those that have a more fixed sense of morality. Since tolerance suggests that you must allow others to believe as they see fit how do you approach someone that believes it is right to hate others for seemingly unreasonable reasons.

Furthermore the lack of a coherent single message of morality makes it difficult to convince others of its efficacy. When someone is worried about Good vs Evil its not comforting to them to throw open the entire philosophical debate about what is Good and Evil. Tolerance forces us to ask questions. It forces us out of our comfort zones. It makes us uneasy.

Tolerance is not easy. It asks us to allow those that do not think the same as we to have a voice. It asks us to embrace the unknown. These are not actions that come naturally to most. It takes learning and trust to be able to put your neck on the line and trust the unknown. Not everyone has this. Even those that think they do may balk on occaisions and belie their issues that they may be intolerant of.