Must We Tolerate Intolerance?
A lot of years passed as I developed the strength to both
determine and stand up for what I could and would put up with in life. What is acceptable or unacceptable? The answers are different for each of
us. Our tolerance levels also vary from
person to person.
Some things are simple.
For example, I reached my threshold for people yelling at me. I decided I didn’t need to take it anymore. If someone is yelling at me now, it better be
to save my life from an oncoming truck… not because they lack the personal control
to talk at an acceptable volume level.
Fair.
When we think, feel, speak, or believe differently from
someone else, I believe that is fine.
However, we all know people who are not interested in tolerating
different perspectives or ideas. That in
and of itself doesn’t make either side more right or wrong.
Where my interest disintegrates is when someone believes
they can and should shout down others just to squelch a dissenting thought,
voice, or opinion from being heard. I
tune out the screamers and “ranters.”
Their voracious volume levels and rabid rantings do not add validity to
their opinions, no matter how frequently they repeat them.
I get into this BIG time in “The Bimbo Has MORE Brains… Surviving Political Correctness.” I do not believe in suppressing dissenting voices. I believe in true dialogue, which includes speaking AND listening. I am grateful for having grown up with parents and educators who believed in us learning all sides of issues. They taught us how to think, not what to think. I feel most fortunate for that, among many other blessings.
Saddening, if not maddening is the feeling when I learn of
free speech getting squelched purely because someone else values a different
philosophy or opinion. Phooey. As I state in the book, repressing or
shutting down voices we may not care to hear dos not remove the thoughts, feelings,
or opinions they wanted to share.
The 44th President of the United States, Barack
Obama, expressed it well. He said, “The
strongest weapon against hateful speech is not repression. It is more speech.”
I believe our differences give us balance. Intolerance of our differences throws us off
balance. To tolerate someone else’s intolerance
requires a great deal of patience, confidence, and persistence. We sometimes need to stop and remember that
there just may be a lot of right in what seems wrong and a lot of wrong in what
seems right.
Cathy Burnham Martin is an award-winning journalist, published author, creative foodie, and communications geek. Her books and Audiobooks are available through all major book retailers, Amazon, and Audible.
