The Intolerance of Tolerance
Tolerance: the ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with. Tolerate: allow the existence, occurrence, or practice of (something that one does not necessarily like or agree with) without interference. Tolerance is a virtue that many people espouse, but I wonder how many of those calling for tolerance really understand what the word means. Tolerance does not mean that we all agree with each other. Tolerance implies just the opposite. We have differing opinions, beliefs or behaviors that we disagree about. Tolerance means that we recognize the differences, …