On Mon, 13 Sep 2004 23:26:05 -0400, Jonathan wrote: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Peter R. Ellis & family) wrote: > >> It came in the email signature of a fellow Christian > >> Many today claim to be tolerant. True tolerance, however, can cope with >> others being intolerant. > >What does it mean to "cope with others being intolerant"? For example, how does one >"cope" with people who discriminate against those with a different skin colour?, or >those of a different gender?, or those with a different sexual orientation? Is the >above statement suggesting we must ignore such behaviours in order to be truly >tolerant?
This brings to mind quite a few friends and one close family member who've all become Christians in recent years. The friends are from Buddhist and Muslim backgrounds. All [including the family member] have remarked on the acceptance and/or love they felt when they first met certain Christians or came into their fellowships. Thus I'm sure that it is acceptance and Christ's love we should be offering rather than tolerance. [1 Corinthians 13: 4 & 5 provides good advice on this.] > >I am a big proponent of tolerance, but I always struggle with the question "Should I >tolerate intolerance?" If I don't, then I become intolerant myself, but if I do then >I allow intolerance to go unchallenged encouraging hate, discrimination, and >injustice. I have a Muslim friend who has made a number of anti-Semitic remarks to me, once quite loudly in a train carriage. I have had to say [gently] that such comments might get him into trouble! I've also made a point of letting him know about people such as Marcus Einfeld and other Jewish Australians who've been vocal about human rights. Similarly, with Anglo friends who've made racist slurs... and so on [and certainly I believed that breaking down prejudice and intolerance was part of my role as an Indonesian language teacher, though that was not an isssue in elective classes]. So, I very strongly disagree that we should tolerate intolerance, but the way we deal with intolerance should be consistent with our message, ie a gentle rebuke, and an acknowledgement that we all have prejudices to overcome by God's grace. Sue Sue Bolton Sydney, Australia ------------------------------------------------------ - You are subscribed to the mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put in the message body 'unsubscribe insights-l' (ell, not one (1)) See: http://nsw.uca.org.au/insights-l-information.htm ------------------------------------------------------
