I believe that the key to tolerance is being able to set aside one's personal rights. The biggest problem that many people have, myself included, is giving up the right to be right. The thought being that if I'm not right, I'm wrong, and that is seen as a character flaw.
In order to achieve true tolerance, we must be able to allow someone to have a different opinion without feeling that it reflects our own self worth. You can share a different opinion than I. That does not make your opinion more valuable than mine. It does not make you a better person or me a lesser person. It means my life experiences have affected my views differently than your life experiences have affected yours. Your experiences have been different from mine and mine from yours. When we can accept these differences without judgment, we can be truly tolerant of one another.
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I think you said it perfectly when you mentioned accepting people and their differences without judgment. To truly be tolerant of others we must all learn not to judge one another. We can observe others, we can even have opinions in agreement or not, but please lets not judge by making the assumption that we know what's best for everyone.
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You are so right in what you say about our life experiences coloring how we see things. So many don't realize that and then cannot see the other person's point of view. All of us would get along so much better if we could, as the old saying goes, walk a mile in the other person's shoes.
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I agree that we all should learn to accept other people's point of view, and that in doing so we really do need occasionally to accept that we might be wrong. That has to be one of the hardest things a person can do.
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kingskid, I really like what you said, actually i like whats been said in the whole thread.
I think its time humankind moves into acceptance and celebration of eachs others differences.
A quote that is always with me is "to judge another is to judge God". When i heard that it pierced my heart and changed how i view others including those who do not tolerate me. This quote is from Marshall Ball - who due to profound disability cannot speak or move but communicates via a letter board. He told his Mom, he is never lonely he talks to God all day.
2 weeks ago i was pushing a shopping cart and a young man, like Marshall, being pushed by his Mom in one of those custom wheel chairs, flung his arm out and it got caught in my cart - we had to "untangle him". She was soooo apologetic - he does that sometimes to people she said - i was sooooo concerned he was hurt and apologized to him - she assured me he wasn't - Marshall came to mind and i told her about him - she was very surprised and was going home to google him. I know she has another lens to view her son through now - and i think sometimes all it takes to get us out of old worn ruts is someone to say look at it this way for a minute. i'm being very optimistic here - i know some people holding a lot of fear really cling to their trenches.
Regarding accepting when we are wrong - i think we are born with that acceptance - i think kids accept screwing up pretty lightly until they see how those older get so bent out of shape, then the fear sets in. That is something that could be changed.
You all have a great weekend, Rainy
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There is a big difference between observing and judging and many just dont seem to get that. Im not really sure why, its pretty simple when you think about it.
I agree with everyone here about setting aside your life experiences as a means towards tolerance. We have not walked a mile in another's shoes, and until we do, we have no right for intolerance of behavior.
That said, being correct is not a right. Being correct is a privilege that we all hold, but do not always exercise.
I noticed this year the more people argue and not debate politics they are doing the same thing, adding in flat personal issues rather than talking about the real ones at hand. I watched as two people broke out into a fight over this as well, such a shame.
If more people can understand this, relate to it and try to make a difference even a little can end up going a long way. Look at the progress some of us have already made and how happier we are for doing so.
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