Sue,
As usual I agree with your analysis - it could be, though, that 'can
cope' can be taken a different way...
It could mean that we acknowledge intolerance in others (and ourselves)
but try not to let
that intolerance rule our actions and responses... Always a tricky
quagmire and I think a
bit of righteous anger is called for from time to time - however
generally our reponse
should be loving (patient, kind, humble, hopeful etc - you can get the
details in 1 Cor).
I prefer an interpretation of another cliche "tolerance is a poor
subsititute for understanding" - in
that while tolerance is important and often neccessary we should always
be trying for more than
tolerance. Engagement, empathy, graciousness, forgiveness and love
might be substituted for
understanding...
anyways - just some thoughts
niall
Sue Bolton wrote:
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
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