Why is tolerance a virtue ?

Question

I asked some of my teachers to explain me why is so important to be tolerant. She told me that :"you must be tolerant to be tolerated". Tolerated by who ? I am from the majority. I don't care about other people. I care only about my people and my culture.

Answer 1

The word tolerance may be overused at the present time.

Remember that for much of the 20th century, merely "not tolerating" someone often translated into dragging them into the streets and murdering them by the millions.

If you mean simply, "I don't have to accept someone's view" then I agree with you that tolerance is not a virtue. You should not accept every view that comes along. But if it means allowing others to hold whatever view they want, and using the tools of debate and persuasion to try to change their view, then tolerance is a virtue depending upon your world view.

I want to live in a world where disagreement on views is limited to verbal debate and proper actions of law. For now, that concept is called "tolerance".

You may want to live in a world where views are discussed in the streets and people kill each other. If so, you are a nut job and you should look at some history and see what that world looks like. It's not pretty.

I suspect what you really mean is that you should not be required to accept everyone's view as legitimate, and I think you can have this mindset and still be "tolerant" according to the present usage of the word.

Answer 2

But here's the problem with that thinking: what if you're not always in the majority? If for some reason majority opinion changes and society has become intolerant, then you're out of luck, my friend.

Tolerance isn't just the right thing to do. It's the smart thing to do.

Answer 3

Scripture teaches us that longsuffering is a fruit of the Holy Spirit.


http://www.biblebelievers.com/AllThis.html

Answer 4

errrrr... welllllll... basically you're saying you and your people and your culture is "right" and everybody ("those people") and all other cultures ("them") are wrong or inferior - "stupid" would fall under "inferior".

do you also agree in the sayings:
if you're not with us, you're against us.
it's either wrong or right
it's either good or bad
it's either yes or no
you either do or don't
you either win or lose
you're either pro or against

think about it or not, thanks for the 2 pts.

Answer 5

tolerate this

Answer 6

Good for you and the neo-nazis...