The use of the word tolerance has become so common place that I think people forget what the word actually means. The idea is "live and let live." The way I explain it to people is to use the word in a phrase like this: "I tolerate you." This gets the idea across that tolerance is agreeing to disagree, respect for a different viewpoint without endorsing it as the truth. Modern liberals (the 1960’s hippies) use the word tolerance in a different way.
To the modern liberal, tolerance means that you have to agree with them, or you are a hate-filled bigot (in other words, you are intolerant). This concept of intolerance does not apply to them of course, they can not only disagree with you, but they can hate you with a passion and pursue your destruction and still, in their minds, be practicing tolerance. This falls under the category that arrogant, elitist liberals like most, the category of "do as I say, not as I do." This is a favorite practice of the one-world socialist liberals that currently control the U.S. government.
One example that helps explain this concept is the effort by liberals to promote diversity. It is good to celebrate your ethnic heritage if you are black, Hispanic or Asian, but it is a racist act to celebrate your heritage if you are white, or worse, a Southerner. Religious convictions are good if you are a Buddhist, Muslim or into Wiccan (a.k.a., witchcraft), but if you are a Christian, then you are suspect of wanting to promote values that are against the Constitution and therefore, in the liberal mind, should give up your right to political involvement.
A current case of the great hypocrisy of the modern concept of tolerance is the fall out over the hanging of the portrait of Robert E. Lee in the river front gallery in Richmond, Virginia. The city council voted, and decided to hang the picture up with other famous Virginians. Two black city council members voted with the majority to hang Lee’s picture up and the liberal black leaders in Richmond have decided to turn their backs on their "black brothers" on the city council and ostracize them. While obviously having the right to disagree with the city council members, this action of black balling (no pun intended) these two city council members shows an incredible lack of true tolerance for their fellow Virginians.
Tolerance as practiced by politically correct liberals today requires that you not stand for any free thinking person who disagrees with you. The typical approach to dealing with this "problem" is to shout loud and long enough at the people who hold a view out of line with the PC crowd until they will either drop their viewpoint or go back in their homes and shut the door, never to be heard from again. The proper spelling of the kind of tolerance practiced by the political, liberal elites is t-y-r-a-n-n-y.
Jeff Adams
August 8, 1999