A minister friend of mine once asked me what I thought about being asked to be "tolerant" of other people's choices of life style, religion etc.

Should a person feel put upon that the "right" thing to be is "tolerant?"

I thought about the word "tolerant." What does it mean?

If you are being asked to "tolerate" someone what are you being asked to do?

I said that I did not like people to tell me that I should or that I must be "tolerant." It means that I am being asked to put up with something that I find objectionable.

If someone else is interfering with my personal rights and freedom, I am not going to be tolerant of them. If someone is trying to force me to pledge allegiance to some cause or some flag, or tell me that I must bow my head and pray and worship their God, and I don't want to, then they are interfering with my rights.

I won't "tolerate" that. But if they want to do it, I will not interfere with them. That is the law of allowance. It is not "tolerance."

If two people of the same sex want to live together and/or be married, I don't have to "tolerate" that. I accept that. I do not find that objectionable at all.

I don't ever want to interfere with other peoples' lives as they chose to live them as long as they don't interfere with mine.

How do you feel when someone tries to guilt you into being "tolerant?" Why should you care what another person believes or how they live their lives if they are not trying to get you to do the same?

I tolerate religion around friends and family cause i'm there but i don't participate in any of it.

example:If they pray before eating their meal i wait till they are done then i sit down at the table.Even at funerals i just stand there until the praying is done.

Well I think "tolerant" was created at a time when people were trying to get say the religious to stop tormenting those unlike themselves. So the word tolerate became the norm for not tormenting others for being different.

Accepting that others have the right to live with the same rights as you do is the key. Toleration is really not the correct word for the above at all.

Now that the laws have started to protect those who get/got tormented by the religious, toleration is a moot point. Let others live their lives or get persecuted by the law is now the word s of the day.

tolerance
[tol-er-uhns]   Origin
tol·er·ance
   [tol-er-uhns] Show IPA
noun
1.
a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from one's own; freedom from bigotry.
2.
a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward opinions and practices that differ from one's own.
3.
interest in and concern for ideas, opinions, practices, etc., foreign to one's own; a liberal, undogmatic viewpoint.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tolerance

synonymous with freedom from bigotry

yes I believe in tolerance, however your freedom to swing your arm ends at the tip of my nose. Allow me to quote J.C. Arnold: " How often were you insecure or lonely, unable to measure up to all those people who seemed to have everything-people who were smart, fit and popular? And even if you were well-liked, what about your hypocrisy, your deceit, your guilt? Who hasn't known the weight of these things? Multiply self-contempt a million times and you have the widespread alienation that marks society today. What else is it that stops strangers from acknowledging each other on the street, that breeds gossip, that keeps co-workers aloof? What else is it that destroys the deepest friendships, that divides the most closely knit families and makes the happiest marriages grow cold?"

Intolerance is a cancer on our lives.

I don't think intolerance is a cancer on our lives.

I think prejudice is.

I have no need to practice "tolerance" because of other people's opinions, practices, race, religion and nationality because that does not concern me and I don't object to them unless or until they infringe upon my personal rights and freedoms.

Then, if they do, I have a right to be intolerant.

Therefore, I hereby retain my right to be intolerant of people or organizations who seek to infringe upon my right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and upon my freedoms.

I don't have to have a "permissive attitude" because I don't believe other people need my 'permission' to live their lives as they see fit so long as they don't infringe upon how I choose to live my life.

I practice the law of allowance to the extent that my attitude is to allow people to live as they see fit without any interference on my part so long as they are not doing harm to me and so long as they are abiding by the laws set forth in our shared community where they directly effect me.

in the strictest modern english sense

tolerate: : to allow to be or to be done without prohibition, hindrance, or contradiction

I tolerate others up to the point that what they do or 'are' is interfering with what I do or 'am'


I tolerate moderate cursing, I tolerate homosexuality, I tolerate promiscuity, I tolerate differing value systems and beliefs


I dont have to agree with them or respect them or be included in them,, to be 'tolerant' and

I try to remove myself from the company of those who curse alot,

or those who are expressing romantic gestures with the same gender(while they are expressing those gestures, as long as I dont have to see or hear about their interests, I will hang out with them the same as anyone else)

or those who have an attitude of being sexually 'free' with whatever and whomever they feel attracted to at the moment



as to those who have different values or beliefs, I plan to always be around them so that I can learn more about the world...

The above is the accepted definition of tolerance.

It is somewhat different than the usage and connotation of the
word tolerate.

it is ONE definition,,,


here is another

a : sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or conflicting with one's own b : the act of allowing something

synonym: patience

a : sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or conflicting with one's own

is the same definition as the one I gave above.

b : the act of allowing something

is a different sense of the word - more general

Religious tolerance is the definition a) just in the same sense I stated above:

a : sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or conflicting with one's own

which is synonymous with "freedom from bigotry"

there is no conflict here just possible misunderstanding of the
english language and how to read a definition.

no misunderstanding or conflict

just expanding upon potential definitions and applications of the word,,,

my mind is not for rent to any god or government

If it is the "accepted definition" and yet different than the usage and connotation of the word, then it is not really an accurate definition since definitions are supposed to define how a word is used and understood.

MERRIAM WEBSTER:


Tolerate:

tol·er·at·edtol·er·at·ing

Definition of TOLERATE

transitive verb
1
: to endure or resist the action of (as a drug or food) without serious side effects or discomfort : exhibit physiological tolerance for
2
a : to allow to be or to be done without prohibition, hindrance, or contradiction

b : to put up with <learn to tolerate one another>

************************************

Definition of TOLERANCE

1
: capacity to endure pain or hardship : endurance, fortitude, stamina
2
a : sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or conflicting with one's own
b : the act of allowing something : toleration
3
: the allowable deviation from a standard; especially : the range of variation permitted in maintaining a specified dimension in machining a piece
4
a (1) : the capacity of the body to endure or become less responsive to a substance (as a drug) or a physiological insult especially with repeated use or exposure <developed a tolerance to painkillers>; also : the immunological state marked by unresponsiveness to a specific antigen (2) : relative capacity of an organism to grow or thrive when subjected to an unfavorable environmental factor
b : the maximum amount of a pesticide residue that may lawfully remain on or in food

2
a : sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or conflicting with one's own

most english words have more than one definition and several connotations


thats what makes it so wonderful,,,lol

it is important of course to use the right definition or connotation
in the right context of course.

It's "dirty pool" otherwise...



And I don't mean that there is garbage floating on water.

i see quite a bit of intolerance of other religions from religious people themselves. today in america i see little tolerance for islam by many christians, for instance. of course some will say that it's the extremism that they don't tolerate, not the religion itself, but i see it as the dogma that can be so widely interpreted to mean very different things as regards what it is to be a "good muslim." this extremism can be found in just about every religion whether it be this jihad that we now must endure, the crusades, the inquisition, the salem witch trials or the bombing of family planing clincs. it's the dogma that i see as a danger to humanity that is little different than naziism. hitler could not have ruled were it not for the dogma that he preached so effectively to average germans willing to follow anybody who could deliver them from their plight in the thirties. he was their savior you might say.

The intolerance is not in the religions. The intolerance you see is
coming from intolerant people. The religions themselves generally
teach tolerance. Go back and study comparative religion and learn
about it.



It is like any legal system. Stealing and murder are illegal yet happen.
Those who burglarize or murder others are excoriated and prosecuted
and punished - it is not the laws to blame rather those who ignore them.