Why cant we be tolerant?

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divinefaith

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"We need to remember that tolerance is not a Christian virtue. Charity, justice, mercy, prudence, honesty — these are Christian virtues. And obviously, in a diverse community, tolerance is an important working principle. But it’s never an end in itself. In fact, tolerating grave evil within a society is itself a form of serious evil.” – Most Rev. Charles Chaput, Archbishop of Philadelphia.

This I saw on Leah Darrow’s facebook fan page. My question is, how do you see tolerance? Is it bad in your opinion. I believe its needed if we Catholics want to be respectful towards others.
 
The question of tolerance in general is too vague to have a definititve answer. Obviously we should tolerate some things and not others. And the things we should tolerate we should tolerate to greater or lesser degrees. It is an oversimplification to wrap something in a platitude like “tolerance” to defend it without having to get into details.
 
I do agree that we shouldnt condone certain issues taking place in society e.g. euthanasia, abortion etc. However, I have the impression from the quote i posted in my OP that we have to go beyond that and possibly show disrespect to the options other people have. I believe we need to simply accept society is opened for everyone to make decisions, even though we dont agree, we need to find a way to express our beliefs without saying our beliefs are pushed on everyone.
 
I think the important distinction is in the Archbishop’s own words: Tolerance is an important working principle, not an end in itself.

I don’t think he is suggesting, at all, that we “can’t (or shouldn’t) be tolerant.” I think he is saying that the challenge is to continue to hold fast to Truth even while we acknowledge that others who hold other positions are still God’s children and equally entitled to the protections of the law. (Or in the words of the old saying, “hate the sin, love the sinner.”)

In our culture many people believe that tolerance means saying there is no Truth, only Opinion. That is, obviously, the top of the slippery slope! On the other hand, passion for the Truth can sometimes lead the passionate to regard/treat others as less-than-worthy, which is, ironically, contrary to Truth.
 
NHInsider said:
I think the important distinction is in the Archbishop’s own words: Tolerance is an important working principle, not an end in itself.

I don’t think he is suggesting, at all, that we “can’t (or shouldn’t) be tolerant.” I think he is saying that the challenge is to continue to hold fast to Truth even while we acknowledge that others who hold other positions are still God’s children and equally entitled to the protections of the law. (Or in the words of the old saying, “hate the sin, love the sinner.”)

In our culture many people believe that tolerance means saying there is no Truth, only Opinion. That is, obviously, the top of the slippery slope! On the other hand, passion for the Truth can sometimes lead the passionate to regard/treat others as less-than-worthy, which is, ironically, contrary to Truth.
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👍 I agree thats what he must be saying

My other concern is about how do we go about opposing beliefs. Dont know what this Archbishop will suggest so I just ask for a discussion here. In my opinion we cant have a society where there’s no free speech coming from others :confused:
 
divinefaith said:
I do agree that we shouldnt condone certain issues taking place in society e.g. euthanasia, abortion etc. However, I have the impression from the quote i posted in my OP that we have to go beyond that and possibly show disrespect to the options other people have. I believe we need to simply accept society is opened for everyone to make decisions, even though we dont agree, we need to find a way to express our beliefs without saying our beliefs are pushed on everyone.
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I don’t think he was saying that we should be disrespectful. He was talking about evils that couldn’t be tolerated. Other’s opinions and ideas, if they are contrary to the Truth, should be confronted with charity and kindness, not rudeness and disrespect. You can disagree with someone and still respect their opinion and personal freedoms… To me what he seemed to be saying was that the grave evils that are prevalent in this country (abortion, the push for gay marriage, the push for euthanasia, etc…) shouldn’t be tolerated and that we are morally obligated to oppose these ideas…
 
A link to the original speech would be helpful in understanding what he means, remember, he just took over one of the most corrupt Archdioceses in the US.

As for the topic, the idea that we should respect others opinions we disagree with seems quite unreasonable to me. I don’t respect the opinions of White Supremicists or NAMBLA, and I’m not going to pretend to.

I think the line we need to discern is between judging the person and the state of their soul, and objecting to behaviors and attitudes that lead to evil actions.
 
Perhaps the most succinct way to look at it is in light of the “Golden Rule”.

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”

If you wish to have your free choice respected( tolerated) then you must respect (tolerate) the free choice of others.

This does not preclude the charitable discussion and debating of matters with others and expecting the same from them.

Peace
James
 
divinefaith said:
"We need to remember that tolerance is not a Christian virtue. Charity, justice, mercy, prudence, honesty — these are Christian virtues. And obviously, in a diverse community, tolerance is an important working principle. But it’s never an end in itself. In fact, tolerating grave evil within a society is itself a form of serious evil.” – Most Rev. Charles Chaput, Archbishop of Philadelphia.

This I saw on Leah Darrow’s facebook fan page. My question is, how do you see tolerance? Is it bad in your opinion. I believe its needed if we Catholics want to be respectful towards others.
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I think he is speaking of the need, defined by the politically correct, to tolerate evil in the name of “being respectful toward others”. Condoning objectively evil attitudes and behaviors is the opposite of respect, it is treating those in whom we tolerate those things as less than human, and does not respect the total society because it tolerates those very things that damage individuals, families and society.
 
NHInsider said:
I think the important distinction is in the Archbishop’s own words: Tolerance is an important working principle, not an end in itself.

I don’t think he is suggesting, at all, that we “can’t (or shouldn’t) be tolerant.” I think he is saying that the challenge is to continue to hold fast to Truth even while we acknowledge that others who hold other positions are still God’s children and equally entitled to the protections of the law. (Or in the words of the old saying, “hate the sin, love the sinner.”)

In our culture many people believe that tolerance means saying there is no Truth, only Opinion. That is, obviously, the top of the slippery slope! On the other hand, passion for the Truth can sometimes lead the passionate to regard/treat others as less-than-worthy, which is, ironically, contrary to Truth.
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I agree, plus today tolerance means you have to say yes to it. I hear it all the time that if you are tolerant than you have to accept something or say yes to it. Which simply isn’t true. I don’t find it attractive when people color their hair a wacky color but I’m not going to hail fire and brimstone one them you know what i’m saying. Just because I say I’m tolerant doesn’t mean I can’t say no.
 
We should always tolerate good, but be intolerant of evil.

For example, suppose your spirituality leaned more towards the charismatic side of things. Since it is accepted by the Church, it is good. But it’s not my cup of tea. I’m not required to engage in that sort of spirituality. But I must tolerate that you do it.

Likewise, suppose you believe that artificial birth control or abortion are okay. I cannot be tolerant of your belief, and must reject it. I must be intolerant, in that case.
 
I come from derry in northern ireland and tolerance is a big issue here
especially when there is so much discrimination against catholics
but we must remember to take each individual, protestant or catholic, as we take them
i have to remember that i cannot control someone elses actions but i can control my own
god bless
 
“Tolerance” has become a code word for acceptance of unacceptable behavior within society. As if we are less than a good person if we do not accept the homosexual lifestyle, adultery, fornication, etc. How can we tolerate outright evil such as abortion? Most of the time, the people who beseech others to be “tolerant” are afraid of some sort of confrontation if people state that a particular behavior is evil.

The concept of “tolerance” means tolerance (actually acceptance) of a certain kind of aberrant behavior within society. Within that definition, I am very intolerant.
 
TheRealJuliane said:
“Tolerance” has become a code word for acceptance of unacceptable behavior within society. As if we are less than a good person if we do not accept the homosexual lifestyle, adultery, fornication, etc. How can we tolerate outright evil such as abortion? Most of the time, the people who beseech others to be “tolerant” are afraid of some sort of confrontation if people state that a particular behavior is evil.

The concept of “tolerance” means tolerance (actually acceptance) of a certain kind of aberrant behavior within society. Within that definition, I am very intolerant.
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I agree with you, Juliane.

And those who promote “tolerance” are always very intolerant themselves. Everyone is intolerant. Intolerance is good for our physical and mental health. We can be intolerant and still be respectful at the same time.
 
divinefaith said:
"We need to remember that tolerance is not a Christian virtue. Charity, justice, mercy, prudence, honesty — these are Christian virtues. And obviously, in a diverse community, tolerance is an important working principle. But it’s never an end in itself. In fact, tolerating grave evil within a society is itself a form of serious evil.” – Most Rev. Charles Chaput, Archbishop of Philadelphia.

This I saw on Leah Darrow’s facebook fan page. My question is, how do you see tolerance? Is it bad in your opinion. I believe its needed if we Catholics want to be respectful towards others.
Click to expand...
I think the point is that tolerance is not the end goal. The end goal should be charity, justice, mercy, prudence, and honesty.

Tolerance is not something to be wished for. We should not tolerate things that are in direct conflict to our beliefs. We should through faith, hope, and charity try and change the situation into something that we find acceptable as Catholic Christians.

When I think of tolerance, I think of St. Nicholas. He tolaerated about as much as he could of the Arian heresey and then he punched somebody out!
 
divinefaith said:
"We need to remember that tolerance is not a Christian virtue. Charity, justice, mercy, prudence, honesty — these are Christian virtues. And obviously, in a diverse community, tolerance is an important working principle. But it’s never an end in itself. In fact, tolerating grave evil within a society is itself a form of serious evil.” – Most Rev. Charles Chaput, Archbishop of Philadelphia.

This I saw on Leah Darrow’s facebook fan page. My question is, how do you see tolerance? Is it bad in your opinion. I believe its needed if we Catholics want to be respectful towards others.
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It is a two edged sword. Why should anyone tolerate Catholics, if Catholics won’t tolerate those whom they disagree with? We all need to get along.
 
Calgar said:
The rewards of tolerance are treachery and betrayal.

😛
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I recognize that your smilie is intended to demonstrate some humor here but I feel it important to point out that…

The rewards of Intolerance are likewise treachery and betrayal.

So it would appear that tolerance is not the cause of such things.

Treachery and betrayal are caused by faults that we all carry around with us to one extent or another - hate, envy, greed - those things which come from the heart.

Those who are tolerant show an acceptance of another’s free will choice - Just as God does.

Those (Christians) who would be intolerant become guilty of rejecting that which God permits.

Peace
James
 
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