A Word on Tolerance
Chuck Colson, the Nixon hatchet-man and ex-con, had a recent article about how great the religious right is, compared to religious liberals (story short: they are better at focusing on one thing at a time and following directions), where he quoted "the great English writer" Dorothy Sayers. This quote summarizes an opinion that is raised sometimes, and which deserves a brief hearing:
This lady confuses tolerance with apathy. In tolerating, I allow someone to do something I don't understand and/or would not do myself. Tolerance has nothing to do with decisions I make regarding my own behavior, which I may hold to a strict standard. Speaking personally: I believe in lots of cool things, I seek to know everything -- but I don't interfere with things that are none of my business. I hate passionately in ways you'll never know, I find purpose in things that would surprise you, and I remain alive because life is so goddamn fascinating I couldn't stand to tear myself away.
The tolerant person cannot be said to "interfere with nothing," but he interferes with fewer things than some people do. Where we are granted the freedom to express ourselves as we wish, tolerance constrains other people to allow us our freedom, and constrains us to allow them theirs.
Tolerance demands the self-discipline to stop ourselves from forcing our own habits on others. Its reward comes in the discovery that other people are rich, fully-functional, autonomous human beings full of surprises, just like ourselves.
“In the world it is called Tolerance, but in hell it is called Despair, the sin that believes in nothing, cares for nothing, seeks to know nothing, interferes with nothing, enjoys nothing, hates nothing, finds purpose in nothing, lives for nothing, and remains alive because there is nothing for which it will die.” Worshipping the Goddess of Tolerance
This lady confuses tolerance with apathy. In tolerating, I allow someone to do something I don't understand and/or would not do myself. Tolerance has nothing to do with decisions I make regarding my own behavior, which I may hold to a strict standard. Speaking personally: I believe in lots of cool things, I seek to know everything -- but I don't interfere with things that are none of my business. I hate passionately in ways you'll never know, I find purpose in things that would surprise you, and I remain alive because life is so goddamn fascinating I couldn't stand to tear myself away.
The tolerant person cannot be said to "interfere with nothing," but he interferes with fewer things than some people do. Where we are granted the freedom to express ourselves as we wish, tolerance constrains other people to allow us our freedom, and constrains us to allow them theirs.
Tolerance demands the self-discipline to stop ourselves from forcing our own habits on others. Its reward comes in the discovery that other people are rich, fully-functional, autonomous human beings full of surprises, just like ourselves.
posted by JimK at 8:41 AM
27 Comments:
you are so full of yourself. bigot.
Tolerance is a one-way street rear at TTF
Problem is TTF has consistently and insistently demanded much more than tolerance and improperly called it tolerance. Our society is already remarkably tolerant of homosexual behavior. TTF, however, has repeatedly advocated accommodation, recognition and endorsement of gaiety by pushing for things like gay marriage, gay clubs in high schools and a fairy tale curriculum about sexual variations.
Tolerance is a greatly overrated virtue whose worth depends on alot of factors not specified by the vague use common among liberals such as the behavior tolerated and what action constitutes intolerance.
Teach the Facts advocates a public school curriculum that teaches students the facts as they are understood by mainstream science and medicine. That's all. It's a very modest goal.
As for freedom being overrated, well, I disagree with you.
JimK
???????
Anonymous said…Tolerance is a greatly overrated
JimK read… As for freedom being overrated, well, I disagree
Jim you cannot read. This is the problem. We write one thing you read something else. Are you aware of this problem and do you know how long it has been going on because there are medications you can take that I think might help.
Anon, tell me the difference between tolerance and freedom.
JimK
???????
Tolerance sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or conflicting with one's own b : the act of allowing something
freedom the quality or state of being free: as a : the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action
"As for freedom being overrated, well, I disagree with you."
Freedom is referencing action.
Tolerance is referencing being.
So, you think these are two separate things that exist independently?
JimK
So Anon, you can act without being?
JimK
They are two different concepts. They do exist independently. You did not know that.
I can write what ever I want on this blog. I am free to do that.
you can tolerate it, or not, if you don't, then you can removed it.
but my freedom to post is not contengent on your tolerates
Jim writes,
Chuck Colson, the Nixon hatchet-man and ex-con
Jim, would you speak this way about someone on your end of the politiccal spectrum?
Looking back at it, you're right, Orin. I should have said:
Chuck Colson, the Nixon hatchet-man who found Jesus just before being sentenced to prison on Watergate-related charges, and who co-signed a letter to George W. Bush in 2002 outlining the theological arguments in favor of attacking Iraq, had a recent article ...
(By the way, that letter is a real piece of work.)
That makes him sound a lot nicer, don't you agree?
JimK
well they did find wmd's the world is better off everyone wins. except you.
time to change the subject.
Yes, I can see why you'd want to.
JimK
well this is the time you stop making comments and put up a new subject. what do you still think that there were no wmds?
Jim writes,
Looking back at it, you're right, Orin. I should have said:
Chuck Colson, the Nixon hatchet-man who found Jesus just before being sentenced to prison on Watergate-related charges, and who co-signed a letter to George W. Bush in 2002 outlining the theological arguments in favor of attacking Iraq, had a recent article ...
(By the way, that letter is a real piece of work.)
That makes him sound a lot nicer, don't you agree?
LOL...remember, I wrote,
Jim, would you speak this way about someone on your end of the politiccal spectrum?
Jim, Jim, Jim...the question was NOT as you framed it, but as I framed it: would you speak this way about someone...anyone...on your end of the political spectrum the way you spoke about Colson???
Nice try though...you know, reframing the question to make the issue whether or not Colson is "nice" or not. "Nice" in my estimation is an over-rated virtue (if it can even be called that; I prefer the term civil) that masks too much mushy-headed thinking.
Come on now...answer the question. Human ethics is not a "theological technicality" btw...
If I were the person that had appointed you to a committee given the responsibility to assist in the development of a revised human sexuality curriculum, I would be concerned with comments you are making here and how they could impact your ability to work with others in a collaborative manner. Nut cases...mindless haters...and other such labels are not what I would expect from someone with an advanced degree.
Alas though, that is someone elses call to make (though who knows, they could be here silent notes taking...).
Let me just say that the attack on Chuck Colson is completely unjustified. I've read several of Colson's books. He's a humble guy with a sincere conversion story and good insight. Anyone who is reading this without familiarity with Colson and would like to make up their own mind, I'd suggest his book, Knowing God.
Colson has won the Templeton prize for his work with his organization, Prison Fellowship. He is widely esteemed by those of varied political persuasion and Jim's insult says more about TTF than Colson. Similar to TTF's attacks on another valuable contributor to our society, Jim Dobson.
H.A.
Uh huh, yeah, Anon. Go back and click on the link to that letter a few comments back, and see what an intelligent sweetheart this guy is. I'm sure he's a humble and honest guy ... who just wants to kill people and destroy entire countries.
And that "Jim" Dobson, too, another nice guy, oh yeah.
JimK
"do you still think that there were no wmds?"
I guess it depends on how you define "WMD." 1980s degraded leftovers or stockpiled ready-to-go weapons?
Aired June 29, 2006 - 17:00 ET
BLITZER: So were weapons of mass destruction recently found in Iraq? There are new developments centering in on the debate. Let's get the details from our national security correspondent, David Ensor -- David?
DAVID ENSOR, CNN AMERICA BUREAU CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the issue is the 500 chemical shells that the U.S. has so far found in Iraq. And it's one of those areas where senior House Republicans and the Bush administration are disagreeing about how to proceed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR (voice-over): Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee brought defense intelligence brass before them to seek support for their view that the 500 chemical weapons so far found in Iraq are dangerous weapons of mass destruction.
REP. CURT WELDON (R), PENNSYLVANIA: So these 500 weapons that we found, contrary to all the spin, are weapons of mass destruction, in your mind as a professional military officer?
COL. JOHN CHU, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL GROUND INTELLIGENCE CENTER: Yes, I do, sir.
ENSOR: But two can play that game. Democrats asked whether the 500 weapons, all 1980 vintage Sarin and mustard shells from the Iran- Iraq war could be used as weapons today?
CHU: These munitions that were found were badly corroded in most cases.
REP. JIM COOPER (D), TENNESSEE: Have you ordered that more chemicals, protective suits, things like that be sent to the region so that our troops can be prepared against these so-called weapons of mass destruction?
CHU: Not to my knowledge, sir.
ENSOR: Former CIA Iraq weapons hunter David Kay told the committee he always expected old shells to be found. He said they did not prove Saddam Hussein had an active weapons program. The hearing is unlikely to satisfy some, like talk show host Rush Limbaugh, who is angry that the 500 shells are being played down. And not just by the media and Democrats.
RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: It's very frustrating. Why in the world is there such a reluctance, even on the part of some Republicans and some Republican conservative media members, who downplay this?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR: But national security advisor Stephen Hadley said the shells are old material from before the Gulf War. Clearly, the White House wants to move on -- Wolf.
BLITZER: And David, this not what administration officials like Colin Powell were talking about before the war in suggesting the Iraqis had stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons.
ENSOR: That's right. The suggestion then was that they were stockpiling them, and that they were fresh, that they were ready to go. These are very old weapons, not something you could safely fire on an army and try to stop it.
BLITZER: David, thank you very much for that. David Ensor reports.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/29/sitroom.02.html
WMDs found works for me.
Jim writes, evasively,
And that "Jim" Dobson, too, another nice guy, oh yeah.
Yes, he is...
From bio,
For 14 years Dr. Dobson was an Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Southern California School of Medicine, and served for 17 years on the Attending Staff of Children's Hospital of Los Angeles in the Division of Child Development and Medical Genetics.
Jim, I trust those that only read these entries to be a better judge of whether Colson and/or Dobson are "nice" guys or not, as opposed to someone with blinding political prejudice (talk about "mindless haters"...good grief, look in the mirror).
So much for tolerance...
Orin said "For 14 years Dr. Dobson was an Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Southern California School of Medicine, and served for 17 years on the Attending Staff of Children's Hospital of Los Angeles in the Division of Child Development and Medical Genetics."
This is another selective response Orin. Is that all Dobson is and does? Hardly. Here's some more biographical material about James Dobson that you didn't bother to mention.
By the way, as most Internet users including our readers are aware, more information on any topic is easily obtainable by using a search engine. The information below was easily found with a simple Google search for "James Dobson, 2004 elections."
Dobson’s FOF, now based in Colorado Springs, has grown exponentially since its founding. FOF resides on an 81-acre campus and receives so much mail it has its own zip code. It employs more than 1,000 people and produces books, magazines, newsletters and Internet websites. Dobson’s radio broadcasts are syndicated internationally and reach more than 116 countries. According to Slate.com, his weekly column is published by more than 500 newspapers.
Dobson’s family counseling — and his great success at communicating that advice — have helped make him one the Religious Right’s most influential voices. TV preachers such as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, though still reaching millions of followers, have seen their reputations wane, in part because of off-the-wall or terribly offensive comments. John C. Green, a political science professor at Akron University in Ohio and director of the school’s Ray Bliss Institute of Applied Politics, told Church & State that, “Dobson is widely admired among evangelical Protestants, and even beyond, because of his family ministry and radio programs.”
Green added that Dobson’s “political statements have become more common over time, reaching a high point in 2004.” One reason for this increase was that same-sex marriage came on to the political agenda.
Political polling by Green, which was noted in the Jan. 17 edition of U.S. News & World Report, showed that 78 percent of evangelicals supported Bush, which represented a 7-point increase from 2000. Green said much of the increase could be attributed to Dobson’s political activities.
But even before the 2004 elections, Dobson had started to delve more directly into political activities. In 1988, he helped create the Family Research Council (FRC), which was then headed by former Reagan White House official Gary Bauer. Dobson would later cut his formal ties with the group, but to this day remains closely associated with it.
Dobson also drew notice and stirred controversy in 1998 for complaining that the Republican Party was not doing enough to advance the Religious Right’s agenda. (See “Family Feud,” May 1998 Church & State.)
But as the 2004 campaigns got underway, Dobson leaped full-fledged into the nation’s political fray.
Dobson lowered his profile at FOF and hit the campaign trail for Bush’s re-election, as well as the election of other socially conservative Republican candidates. He also launched a “sister ministry” alongside FOF, called Focus on the Family Action, a 501(c)4 nonprofit with greater ability to operate politically. The New York Times reported that the budgets of both FOF and its political arm were projected to be $146 million in 2004. (In 1993, FOF’s annual budget was then nearing $80 million.)
In his January interview with the Times, Dobson said he could never regain an image as an apolitical promoter of evangelical Christian values.
“I can’t go back, nor do I want to,” he told the Times. “I will probably endorse more candidates. This is a new day. I just feel the need to make use of this visibility.”
With many pushing the conventional — if disputed — wisdom that evangelical Christians played the dominant role in Bush’s victory, Dobson has found little trouble in exploiting his heightened visibility. Only days after the president’s re-election, Dobson appeared on ABC’s Sunday news program, “This Week,” and boasted about his involvement in the political arena. During the interview with host George Stephanopoulos, the Religious Right leader elaborated on a warning he gave a White House staffer who had called to thank him for his work on behalf of Bush.
“Well, the essence of it is that people of faith and the people that I think put George Bush in power again have some very strong views,” Dobson said. “And I think that this president has two years — or more broadly, the Republican Party has two years — to implement those policies, or certainly four, or I believe they’ll pay a price in the next election.”
God bless Dr. Dobson God bless GW Bush and God bless the USA. I am so proud to be an american. I am so happy Bush won these fore more years.
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