"Tolerance" Amongst Different People

I don't know why people use the word "tolerance" so much when it comes to being in peace with others.

Tolerance is a bad word. It implies that the object that is tolerated is bad. It also implies that you don't care about the object which is tolerated. A better word is "compassion". Or "empathy". Compassion implies that you welcome others and treat them well regardless of whether you agree with their views and behaviours as long as they are not detrimental to your well being and that you don't necesasrily agree with their views even though you allow them to have such views without entering into conflict because of such views. It's all about integration and unconditional acceptance of someone's existance.

What do you think?

 

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Peace cannot be based in tolerance alone...

 

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I agree. But there are some groups, and even religions that I cannot stand and wish that did not exist.
I wouldn't lose a wink of sleep if these certain groups and religions disappeared off the face of the earth and never returned.
So, with that said, since I will not allow anyone to force me to like or accept these groups with open arms, what is left that isn't discriminating? Tolerance.
And if these jackass extremists had some tolerance for other religions, we wouldn't be in this war right now.
No, tolerance isn't as good as open acceptance, but it's not near as bad as discrimination or rejection.

 

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Just like women eh mike?

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But you don't need to accept those people at all. All you need is to care about them and wish them well. It's all about separating the people from their behaviour and misconceptions.

 

Altough because extremists are so detrimental to society, such requirement might be in fact too much. I'm not quite sure.

 

I agree. The problem is that so many people who are xenophobic and afraid of change use tactics such as religious fundamentalism to feed the fire to attack other groups (basically Al-qaeda or the Klu Klux Klan).

If you were referring to Islam as a religion you cannot stand, think of it this way; Islam is a religion based on peace, kindness, and tolerance towards one another, but some people exploit culture mixed with this religion to create a form of terrorist-fundamentalism. Only 20% of Muslims are from the arabic countries and so also keep the 80% in mind too.

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Exactly

 

Tolerance is important for diversity.

Simplest most basic example of tolerance:

"I may disagree with what you have to say, but I shall defend to the death your right to say it.- Voltaire"

Unfortunately, it is in very short supply these days.

 

That's not tolerance. It's more like compassion.

Tolerance is forced and unnatural.

 

Maybe where you come from. :shrug:

tolerance n. The capacity for or the practice of recognizing and respecting the beliefs or practices of others.

 

I agree with the bad use of tollerance. You don't "tollerate" different peoples, one of the more proper phrasings would be, to accept them as "equal", as just people, rather than a different sort of people.

To "tollerate" would be if we're speaking of something like bad neighbours or something like it, people who aren't even necessarily from another culture or whatever... is something you do somewhat unwillingly, the circumstances force you to accept the situation, but you really preferred that they weren't there or at least that they didn't behave bad in any way that they might do (speaking of neighbours I can think of noisy people who apparently have some annoying sense of communitary sharing of their ultra-potent sound system and frequently bad musical taste. That's the sort of thing that annoies me, and sometimes I have to tollerate in order to avoid trouble of some sort).

 

To demand more than tolerance from people is to be intolerant yourself, so you're worse than the people you criticise.

The bottom line is people often don't like certain types of people, it's not a choice, it's how they feel.
The most you can ask is that they are tolerant of the people they don't like.

I personally don't like carnival and circus folk, I just don't, I can't help it, I find them unpleasant.
I could go and raid the caravans at the circus at night, terrorise the tired and weary acrobats and lizard men while they rest in their enclosures, threaten them and tell them to pack up and move out of town or I'll burn their tents to the ground.

That would be intolerance. But no, I maturely tolerate the circus being in town, I sit at home, dig my fingers into the arm rests on my chair and grind my teeth untill they leave.

Apparently this isn't good enough? I need to actively love carnis? I need to approve of their disturbing lifestyle? I should repress the urge to vomit and instead force a smile when I look at their leathery weathered faces with their absurdly disproportioned features?
That's too much to ask, you are now being intolerant of the type of person I am.
You are doing what I was too tolerant to do, you are sticking your nose into my life and infringing upon my rights because you disapprove of me.

You need to perfect tolerance first before you can even think about skipping ahead of it. You don't seem to understand what it means, and you are unmistakably an intolerant person. A fascist, if you will.

This is why tolerance was settled upon, because it's the logical base, where no one's basic rights are being comprimised.
What you want to do is go too far and start forcing people to feel a certain way, that's not superior to tolerance, it's just a specific form of intolerance.

 

Tolerance is like saying to someone "you smell bad, but it's ok. I will just hold my breath around you."


Is that good enough for you?

 

Precisely.


You know... it's very easy to be cordial with those who you share your views with. But it's a much greater sign of wisdom and strenght to be cordial with those who you disagree.

Yes, that would be excellent.

Yes. But how could we help them?

I totally agree.

 

Who's demanding?

I would like people to be enlightened. I don't expect anything short of greatness of everyone. Having said that, anything short of greatness is perfectly forgivable. We are growing as a species and it takes time to grow.

Maybe you don't like what they do, or how they behave. Or you don't agree with them. That's ok. But caring about them just because they exist, regardless of anything else.... that's possible.

No, there's no need for approval. It's perfectly possible to love and care about someone who you completely disagree with and disaprove.

That sounds like a sign of hatred. What's the point of feeling that way? Focus on their existance. It's called reverance for life.

Again, who's demanding?

Read what Fraggle wrote and you might get a grasp of what I did.

Do you really think tolerance alone has been sufficient?

 

Too many people hate people when what really bothers them is what the people believe in or what they do. They don't separate the people from the behaviour. Rise above that and you can truly care about people, not just be tolerant.

 

That is an excellent example. If you go to church and a homeless unwashed man sits down next to you during service, do you:

-continue as you were, its a church, anyone can sit where they want.

- make disgusted sounds and move to a different place?

 

Heh, probably the latter. I don't know - I'm a polite person, so I couldn't see myself making obvious sounds of discomfort. I'd pretend I had a call, get up, and quietly sit somewhere else. What would you do? Be honest.