Tolerance

I’ve been thinking lately due to a number of reasons about what it means to be tolerant.  People around me talk often about looking for a place where people are tolerant and open minded.  They respect that ideal.  But what does tolerance really mean?

 Am I intolerant if what I believe to be true doesn’t match with yours?  Am I intolerant if I am not open minded, meaning I hold certain values to be right and not others?  What if my mind set doesn’t match yours?  If open mindedness walks hand in hand with tolerance, then only people who believe everything can be true are truly tolerant.  Personally I don’t really see how that’s even possible.  Everything cannot be true.  Everything cannot be right.  So if you can only tolerate those with your mindset, even if your mindset is open-mindedness, then you aren’t being tolerant either.  Tolerance does not mean an acceptance or support of a lifestyle or set of beliefs.

Here’s what I believe tolerance to be: Tolerance means I accept you as being a valuable human being even if I disagree with what you think is right or what you believe.  Tolerance means I believe you are worthy of love even if we disagree.  Tolerance means I hope we can be friends and share meaningful conversation even if our view points differ.  Tolerance walks hand in hand with love.