Tolerance and Respect: Both Are Needed

The word "tolerance" is derived from a Latin word meaning "to bear."  The Webster's New World Dictionary defines this word: "to allow" or "to respect (other's beliefs, practices, etc.) without sharing them."  America's heritage is strongly rooted in the concept of tolerance.  The colony of Pennsylvania was founded with a religious tolerance, a place where all faiths could be accepted.  The First Amendment to the United States Constitution proclaims the foundation for the freedom of expression through speech and religion, which is the bedrock of tolerance. 


Now, by being tolerant, it does not mean that I have to personally accept a different lifestyle or manner of living.  But it does mean that I must show respect for that difference.  For example, if I go into a retail store and discover that many of the clerks identify with being Muslim by their manner of dress, I do have to show them respect even though I disagree with their belief-system. 


The problem in American culture today is that we have lost the sense of respect.  We want conformity, not tolerance.  We want everyone to be alike.  There is little room for differences and certainly there is no room to show respect for those differences.  This concept is dramatically displayed on college and university campuses where those who hold to a belief contrary to the majority on the campus are shouted down or prohibited from even speaking.  Why is that?  It is because they are not like the majority and, let's remember, everyone must learn to think alike and to believe just like everyone else.  Let's all be "inside-the-box-thinkers."  That is the safe place to be.  It is dangerous to be an "outside-the-box-thinker."  So, many of our colleges and universities today are educating our young people to be "inside-the-box-thinkers" focused upon only those ideologies and principles that have been approved by the mainstream educational organizations. 


Let me give you a recent example of how conformity was exacted in the guise of practicing tolerance.  The article was from the National Review, published on August 29, 2017.  The article, titled, "Catholic School Removes Jesus, Mary Statues Because They're 'Alienating' to Non-Catholics," was written by Katherine Timpf.  Allow me to share a portion of the article:


"The San Domenico School, the first Catholic school in California, has removed all but 18 of its 180 religious statues in an effort to be more 'inclusive' and 'forward thinking.'  Several parents have complained about the decision, accord to Marinij.  'Articulating an inclusive foundation appears to mean letting go of San Domenico's 167-year tradition as a Dominican Catholic school and being both afraid and ashamed to celebrate one's heritage and beliefs,' one of these parents, Shannon Fitzpatrick, told the news source.  'In our time here, the word "Catholic" has been removed form the mission statement, sacraments were removed from the curriculum, the lower-school curriculum was changed to world religions, the logo and colors were changed to be "less Catholic," and the uniform was changed to be less Catholic,' she continued. 


"Head of School Cecily Stock, however, said that the school is an 'independent' as well as 'Catholic' school - a whopping 80 percent of the school's students do not identify as Catholic - and that the move was simply meant to make the campus more attractive and 'inclusive' to students of other faiths.
Amy Skewes-Cox, who heads the school's board of trustees, doubled down on the idea that the statues could potentially make students with other beliefs feel too uncomfortable.  'If you walk on the campus and the first thing you confront is three or four statues of Saint Dominic or Saint Francis, it could be alienating for that other religion, and we didn't want to further that feeling.'"


Before I share with you the conclusion of the author of this article, let me ask you this question: Is there a fallacy within the argument of the San Domenico School's leadership?  You are a Catholic School which means that you celebrate your Catholic beliefs through many different avenues within the school.  If I, as a parent, would decide to send my child to this school, should I expect that the school would tone-down its Catholic beliefs just so my child, being raised as a non-Catholic, would feel comfortable?  Of course not!  Here is how the author of the article closed: "As an independent school, San Domenico obviously has the right to make whatever statue-related decisions it wants to make.  Still, there's certainly something to be said for keeping true to an institution's history and tradition - and I'm not entirely sure just how triggering these statues really could have been to non-Catholics, anyway.  I know, after all, from my own experience that I would not have been bothered: I attended a Lutheran high school as a non-Lutheran, and I never got upset at seeing or hearing 'Lutheran' things at school.  We had chapel every day where speakers taught the Lutheran faith - I even had to take Lutheran theology classes to graduate - but I never once considered that things should have been any other way.  Why?  It was a Lutheran school, and so I kind of expected that I'd probably be seeing some Lutheran things around me if I decided to attend.  I never felt that I was any less of a person, or even that I was unwelcome; it just seemed like something that made too much logical sense even to question."


The San Domenico School, in the guise of being tolerant of others, instead practiced conformity.  We will become like other schools because we want you to attend here.  The bottom line is the respect that should be shown to one another was missed.


Let me cite one more example.  This article was published by Townhall just today and was written by Todd Starnes.  You can find it at: www.townhall.com/columnists/toddstarnes/2017/09/05/teacher-compares-trump-shirts-to-swastikas.  "A Georgia high school teacher compared the 'Make America Great Again' slogan to a swastika and ordered students wearing t-shirts supporting President Trump to leave her classroom.  The incident happened Aug. 31 at River Ridge High School in Cherokee County - north of Atlanta - and it was all captured on video.  Turning Point News first obtained the exclusive video and it shows the teacher explaining to students that they could not wear pro-Trump clothing 'just like you cannot wear a swastika to school.' ... 'It's ironic to me that the political left claims to promote free speech, but then attempts to silence conservative free speech,' State Rep. John Carson told AJC.com.  Parents reached out to local news reporters and local lawmakers and the school district had no choice but to apologize.  The school district said the unidentified math teacher 'erroneously' told the students that shirts with campaign slogans were not permitted in class."


Just another case where "tolerance" equals "conformity" to the wishes of the majority.  Unfortunately this seems to be a growing phenomena within our culture today.  I may not agree with your position, but that does not give me the right to show disrespect toward you.  R-E-S-P-E-C-T - how we need to rediscover the wealth of relationship building found within that word.