You think you know what “tolerance” is? Bet you’re wrong!
Your definition of tolerance, if you are a product of the public school system in the USA since the 1970s, doesn’t match with the original, and general understanding of tolerance. What the schools have taught you is that not only do you have to follow the basic definition of tolerance (which I’ll give in a moment) but that you also have to agree with what you are tolerating! That’s not right, nor is it correct.
Tolerance is the willingness of an individual to put up with, or bear, the opinions, lifestyles, and behavior of another without agreeing with it. It’s the relative capacity of an organism to grow or thrive in the presence of one or more unfavorable environmental conditions. It’s the act of allowing something. It’s the allowable deviation from the standard.
In no way does it entail the acceptance and condoning of the behavior! Yet, that’s what society is trying to push.
The information that the schools are putting forth, that everything is relative and other people’s opinions are equally valid as our own, that we mustn’t judge because there are no absolute guidelines is bogus!
The idea that because you “feel” that… something should be allowed or accepted is based upon a false premise: your feelings. [That’s another topic altogether, how life becomes totally mucked up when you run by “feelings.” But if you’re already reading this, at psych central, you probably already know this.]
Polls show how people believe you cannot criticize without finding fault. That’s errant thinking. [That means it’s incorrect thinking, it isn’t true.] Whatever happened to the principles of debate? Are there no more debate teams because they “have to hurt someone’s feelings if they disagree?” Hog wash. Ridiculous!
And why is this such a big deal? Because, with the basic errant thinking that if you disagree, and if you voice that disagreement, you are making them hurt, you are hurting their feelings, and if you know this, then you are committing a hate crime! Hate crimes mean jail time. Another absurdity society is foisting on you, making you believe.
Some of the younger generation might have a few “test” cases shoved in their faces at school. One being that of Matthew Shepherd. The homosexuals grouped together and put out a script how this was only because the guy was “gay.” And the media jumped on that, hyped it up and voila! “hate crime” was insinuated. Even in the other highly publicized case, there was no premise of any “hate crime.” In fact, the right verdicts were arrived at, cases resolved, without any such ruling about hate crimes. You see, there was no such thing back then, as a hate crime. We don’t need any hate crime laws. Our current ones do fine.
But back to the reasoning for tolerance being taught the way it is today. There’s only one, in my, and expert’s opinions. This is a direct attack against Christianity. OH no! You cry, not another one of those articles! Well, please read on?
You can have many beliefs in this world, many at the same time, of any religions you wish to join or follow, except for Christianity. Let me phrase that better: Christianity is the ONLY belief that you have to hold to, and not hold to another belief. Christianity is an absolute.
You see, the schools teach relativity. ” All things are relative” it says. And that just isn’t true. Even Einstein, who I think is credited for making this absurd remark, didn’t say that. He even countered it. [Look it up for yourself, if you are so inclined.] All things are NOT relative. Christianity is the only, let me repeat: ONLY belief that is absolute. All the other religions and faiths and beliefs allow you to add as many of them to your repetoir as you care to, they are all very good for you blah blah blah. But NOT with Christianity. You either accept the tenets of Christianity, and God’s infallible Holy Word, or you don’t. There’s no mixing it up with other stuff.
Christ, God Himself in the flesh, says,” I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. NO man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.” Absolutist? Yes!
No other entity declares that they died for us. Buddha didn’t. Mohammad didn’t. Tao didn’t. Only Christ died for sins of the world. Only Christ rose again from the dead ( with many hundreds of witnesses, verified by historians.) Only Christ gives freely this salvation.
The “new tolerance” is aimed directly, and specifically at Christianity. We are being corralled like sheep to the slaughter!
If we don’t fight these efforts to create “hate crimes” bills, then we will be corralled and not allowed to speak God’s truth, not allowed to share and help others lost in their sin, not allowed to show the love of God through Word, because by doing so might “hurt their feelings” and thus we would be committing a “hate crime.” They could throw all the Christians into prison.
WAKE UP!!! Stand up for Jesus Christ, show some backbone while we still have a place to stand!
October 14th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Tolerance works both ways, I tolerate christianity as well as other religions so long as they do not try to “spread the word” directly in my face. Unless your religion is like Islam and requires you to pray five times a day regardless of were you are or something similiar that requires you to practice outside of your own home or church. I leave my religion at my door out of respect for others, and I expect others to do the same.
“Hate Crime” is alot more serious then you seem to make it out to be. If someone say, discrimainates against a gay person because it goes against their Christian beliefs then I would consider that a hate crime, the same way as if someone were discriminating against someone for their race. If someone wrote the word nigger on a black person’s belongings that is a hat crime, the same way as calling someone a faggot because they are both offensive and derogitory terms. If someone says something that hurts your feelings then they should be confronted, not necessarily charged with any sort of crime, but it isn’t okay either.
Regardless of what you think is the truth there are no garuntees in this marvelous little planet we call earth.
In the contexts of Christianity, I believe that god created people of many different variety, black, white, asian, gay, straight, who are we to doubt God’s creation? To say something that he created in his own image to be an abomination?
“If we don’t fight these efforts to create “hate crimes” bills, then we will be corralled and not allowed to speak God’s truth, not allowed to share and help others lost in their sin, not allowed to show the love of God through Word”
There is a time and a place for everything. Some places are just not okay to share your beliefs with others. School is not a place, work is not a place, you will still have your freedom to share, but not in a way that is considered harmful to others. If someone cannot share their ideas without hurting someone then it is truely a sad world.
Okay, getting off of my soapbox now.
October 18th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
That’s SO true!
October 19th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Mirla, telling others about the love of God is not a hate crime. The problem with the hate crime bills are they are overreaching. People can share their sexual preferences in all those places you mention, why not faith?
Your comments are exactly the proof that people have tolerance for everything else, just not Christianity. What the issue is IS that we are not allowed to share our faith even without hurting another, with regard to the “hate crimes” bill. How tolerant is that?
The time and place is here and now. America was founded to escape just such intolerances perpetrated upon the people in Old England. If we need another tea party, count me in!