Is it possible to legislate tolerance and respect??

Question

This is something that has bugged me for a long time, but it seems to me that the more we try to legislate tolerance and respect, the less tolerant and respectful we are becoming as a society. Do you agree, or are we failing to address the real problem of education within family/school etc about a real understanding and practice of tolerance and respect?

I have to say that I do in fact have an opinion on this, and it doesn't take too much to work it out from my question!! Just a thought to get some discussion going!

Winballpizard - good answer!! In my question, I wasn't looking to simply blame legislation. I think it's about time we learned to take a good hard look at ourselves and stop the me me me culture we seem to be stuck in! Comments???

Answer 1

somethings are best left with the family and exposure to teach

Answer 2

I agree that these are intangible traits that cannot be legislated. While I do feel that in part this responsibility rests with family and in part with our education system, I cannot help but feel that the social environment of this nation must also be held responsible.

Our nations leaders (both parties), popular political talk show hosts (liberal and conservative), and even some church bodies have adopted such a vitriolic form of speaking about anyone they disagree with that it can be no surprise when this behavior is copied by young people in their formative years. We have a social environment thick with divisiveness and hate. Far too many citizens of this country are allowing themselves to be blindly led down that path.

The key, in addition to home and school is for all thinking citizens to start looking into issues involving other family models, diverse forms of sexuality and different religions instead of simply taking someone elses word for how those thing effect us. If we do this we see more tolerance and less demonization.

Answer 3

We can not force we must allow. The harder you push the greater the resistance. We need examples to The Truth, not legislature to cram it down our throats. This is the reverse psychology of the other side masquerading as the good side, so to speak if you need to pick sides. We as individuals as part of the whole of "the world" need to take personal responsibility. Impeccable actions with integrity is or only way to the promised land, personal freedom. We make the choice no one can take us there, it does not matter how much you pay your priest or how many you kill in his name etc, etc. etc.. Look at the his-story of the world all religions are the same. Persecution is their way of getting other to believe cuz the non believer will get chopped up or "blowed" up er what ever. Self righteousness is the Nemesis of humanity. Quit frankly we would be a lot better off if it was huwomanity because then we would be willing to nurture, love and respect life instead of trying to control everything due to fear of The Truth

Answer 4

No, because these are heart issues. The initial theory behind Communism was that you would have a society that cared for everyone, that no-one would be in need. However, human nature is selfish and corrupt. So you ended up with a society that was worse than the one it replaced. Only The Holy Spirit can change us internally so we have more love, tolerance and respect for each other.

Answer 5

It is nonsense to attempt to compel people, on pain of criminal penalty, to be tolerant and respectful, and quite qhy government can't see the logical absurdity of such a position is beyond me.

I can't help but think that the problem goes rather deeper than you suggest, beginning with the 'something must be done' brigade, through the 'health and safety' legions, and finishing up with daft legislation designed to address 'inequality'.

If you remove all risk and all danger from life, if you legislate to ban things which annoy only a small minority and if you try and squueze people's lives into a narrowly defined space set by government, then where is the tolerance and respect? Is the government exempt from showing it?

So, do fireworks annoy me? Yes. Do kids letting off fireworks from September to January annoy me? Yes. Do I want to ban them or their sale? No. It might irritate me, but hey, its not the end of the world. The same applies to pistols shootig, fox-hunting, smoking etc etc.

So, if you want to encourage respect and tolerance, lobby your MP to stop voting for intolerant legilsation.

And no, I understand that you're not looking specifically at legislation, but legislation is in some respects the root of the intolerance in society, and an encouragement for me, me, me groups because it defines the parameters within which we all live, as well as the vision of society which we're all taught at school. For example, the banning of smoking in public places (which is largely based on nonsense science, like global warming) simply encourages other small but vocal groups and individuals to press for what they want to be banned too.

Without a general framework of genuine rather than compulsory tolerance within which to work, it is difficult to see how education in itself will teach tolerance.

I thik that last bit made sense, didn't it? I know what I mean!

Answer 6

Education in central in all this. The system we have, called education, is failing badly in all areas of life!

Tolerance is a fancy word for 'putting up with', its the wrong way of thinking.

Respect has it root meaning in>look back at>consider.

How you consider something comes from how you have been educated and how deeply you are conditioned by society and media. You cannot impose it. How you consider is governed by your particular conditioning. The Jew considers the Palestinian according to his conditioning.

To have kindness humility and consideration for each other we must free ourselves from the conditioning and form an education that serves not only to inform us with knowledge, but also frees us from our conditioned backgrounds.

Respect then would not be an issue.

Answer 7

That is precisely the problem. Legislation of such things is simply not possible and the efforts to do so are the casue of tolerance and respect diminishing. I have always though that LESS legislation was the way to go....and this just reinfocres that idea...

Answer 8

3 - I don't think we can force anyone to do something if they do not want to. The causes of disrespect and intolerance are many. I may not like what everyone does or says, but I cannot remove their right to say it, though I can choose to stay away from it or express my own feelings.

So no, we cannot legislate tolerance and respect, but we can create an environment for it to grow in.

Answer 9

I agree with you that education is the key. Nobody has the right to dictate our thoughts. In this way New Labour are woefully off the mark. There is a danger of a backlash, but i'm past caring!

Answer 10

Actions only are the proper province of government action, not opinions. If the government pushes too hard to direct our opinions it creates a backlash, an equal and opposite reaction that reinforces the attitudes it seeks to eradicate.

Answer 11

I dont think you can. Tolerance and respect our learned behaviors, true, but carried out through opinion and emotion. We can not force society to be tolerant, we can merely provide the skills to children that make it possible for them to incorporate it into themselves, but it is each of us that choose to use those skills, or ignore them.

Legislating it would violate a personal freedom, and appear to be an effort to make us all the same so to speak. I dont think it could be done.