Tolerance—From One Extreme to the Other

THE scenic beauty of the Vale of Kashmir moved a 16th-century philosopher to exclaim: “If there is paradise anywhere, it is here!” Clearly, he had no idea of what would later happen in that part of the world. Within the last five years, at least 20,000 people have been killed there in fighting between separatists and the Indian Army. The German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung now describes the region as a “valley of tears.” The Vale of Kashmir offers a simple yet valuable lesson: Intolerance can ruin a potential paradise.

What does it mean to be tolerant? According to the Collins Cobuild English Language Dictionary, “if you are tolerant, you allow other people to have their own attitudes or beliefs, or to behave in a particular way, even if you do not agree or approve.” What a fine quality to display! Surely we feel at ease with people who respect our beliefs and attitudes, even when these differ from their own.

From Tolerance to Bigotry

The opposite of tolerance is intolerance, which has several shades of intensity. Intolerance may start with narrow-minded disapproval of someone else’s behavior or way of doing things. Narrow-mindedness chokes the enjoyment out of life and closes one’s mind to new ideas.

For instance, a straitlaced person may recoil from the bouncing enthusiasm of a child. A young person may yawn at the meditative ways of someone older than himself. Ask a cautious person to work side by side with someone who is adventurous, and they could both get irritable. Why the recoil, the yawn, and the irritation? Because, in each case, the one finds it hard to tolerate the attitudes or behavior of the other.

Where intolerance breeds, narrow-mindedness can escalate into prejudice, which is an aversion to a group, race, or religion. More intense than prejudice is bigotry, which can manifest itself in violent hatred. The result is misery and bloodshed. Think of what intolerance led to during the Crusades! Even today, intolerance is a factor in the conflicts in Bosnia, Rwanda, and the Middle East.

Tolerance requires balance, and maintaining proper balance is not easy. We are like the pendulum of a clock, swinging from one side to the other. At times, we show too little tolerance; at times, too much.

From Tolerance to Immorality

Is it possible to be overly tolerant? U.S. Senator Dan Coats, speaking in 1993, described “a battle over the meaning and practice of tolerance.” What did he mean? The senator lamented that in the name of tolerance, some “abandon a belief in moral truth—in good and evil, in right and wrong.” Such people feel that society has no right to judge what is good behavior and what is bad.

In 1990, British politician Lord Hailsham wrote that “the most deadly enemy of morality is not atheism, agnosticism, materialism, greed nor any other of the accepted causes. The true enemy of morality is nihilism, belief in, quite literally, nothing.” Obviously, if we believe in nothing, we have no standards of proper behavior and everything can be tolerated. But is it proper to tolerate every form of conduct?

A Danish high school principal thought not. He wrote a newspaper article in the early 1970’s, complaining about advertisements in the press for pornographic shows portraying sexual intercourse between animals and humans. These advertisements were allowed because of Denmark’s “tolerance.”

Clearly, problems arise from showing too little tolerance but also from showing too much. Why is it hard to avoid extremes and stay in proper balance? Kindly read the next article.

Proper Balance Can Sweeten Your Life

TOLERANCE is like sugar in a cup of coffee. The right measure can add a touch of sweetness to life. But while we may be generous with sugar, we are often miserly with tolerance. Why?

“Human beings do not want to be tolerant,” wrote Arthur M. Melzer, an associate professor at Michigan State University. “What comes naturally is . . . prejudice.” So intolerance is not simply a character flaw that affects only a minority; being narrow-minded comes naturally to all of us because all mankind are imperfect.—Compare Romans 5:12.

Potential Busybodies

In 1991, Time magazine reported on the growing narrow-mindedness in the United States. The article described “life-style busybodies,” people who try to impose their own standards of conduct on everyone. Nonconformists have been victimized. For instance, a woman in Boston was removed from her job because she refused to wear makeup. A man in Los Angeles was fired because he was overweight. Why the zeal to make others conform?

Narrow-minded people are unreasonable, selfish, stubborn, and dogmatic. But are not most people unreasonable, selfish, stubborn, or dogmatic to a degree? If these traits find a firm foothold in our personality, we will be narrow-minded.

What about you? Do you shake your head at someone else’s taste in food? In conversation, do you normally want the last word? When working with a group, do you expect them to follow your way of thinking? If so, it might do some good to add a little sugar to your coffee!

But, as was mentioned in the preceding article, intolerance can come in the form of hostile prejudice. One factor that can make intolerance escalate is severe anxiety.

“A Deep Feeling of Uncertainty”

Ethnologists have looked into mankind’s past to discover when and where racial prejudice has been evident. They found that this sort of intolerance does not surface all the time, nor is it manifest in every land to the same degree. The German natural science magazine GEO reports that racial friction surfaces in times of crisis when “people have a deep feeling of uncertainty and sense that their identity is threatened.”

Is such “a deep feeling of uncertainty” widespread today? Definitely. As never before, mankind is beset by one crisis after another. Unemployment, the spiraling cost of living, overpopulation, depletion of the ozone layer, crime in the cities, pollution of drinking water, global warming—a nagging fear of any of these increases anxiety. Crises breed anxiety, and undue anxiety opens the door to intolerance.

Such intolerance finds an outlet, for instance, where different ethnic and cultural groups become intermingled, as in some European lands. According to a report by National Geographic in 1993, Western European countries were then host to more than 22 million immigrants. Many Europeans “felt overwhelmed by the influx of newcomers” of a different language, culture, or religion. There has been a rise in antiforeign sentiment in Austria, Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Sweden.

What about world leaders? During the 1930’s and 1940’s, Hitler made intolerance a government policy. Sadly, some political and religious leaders today use intolerance to gain their own ends. This has been the case in such places as Austria, France, Ireland, Russia, Rwanda, and the United States.

Avoid the Trap of Apathy

Too little sugar in our coffee and we sense that something is missing; too much sugar and we have a sickeningly sweet taste in our mouth. It is the same with tolerance. Consider the experience of a man who teaches in a college in the United States.

Some years ago, David R. Carlin, Jr., found a simple yet effective way of stimulating class discussion. He would make a statement designed to challenge the views of his students, knowing that they would protest. The result was a spirited discussion. In 1989, however, Carlin wrote that the same method no longer worked well. Why not? While students still did not agree with what he said, they no longer bothered to argue. Carlin explained that they had adopted the “easy tolerance of the skeptic”—a carefree, couldn’t-care-less attitude.

Is a couldn’t-care-less attitude the same as tolerance? If nobody cares what anybody thinks or does, there are no standards at all. The absence of standards is apathy—a complete lack of interest. How can such a state of affairs come about?

According to Professor Melzer, apathy can spread in a society that accepts many different standards of behavior. People come to believe that all manner of conduct is acceptable and that everything is simply a matter of personal choice. Instead of learning to think and to question what is acceptable and what is not, people “often learn not to think at all.” They lack the moral backbone that moves a person to stand up to the intolerance of others.

What about you? Do you occasionally catch yourself adopting a couldn’t-care-less attitude? Do you laugh at jokes that are lewd or racist? Do you allow your teenage son or daughter to view videos that advocate greed or immorality? Do you feel it is OK for your children to play violent computer games?

Tolerate too much, and a family or society will reap anguish, since no one knows—or cares—what is right or wrong. U.S. Senator Dan Coats warned about “the trap of tolerance as apathy.” Tolerance can lead to being open-minded; too much tolerance—apathy—to being empty-headed.

So, what should we tolerate and what should we reject? What is the secret to achieving the proper balance? This will be the subject of the following article.

Flexible, yet Committed to Divine Standards

“TOLERANT men are never stupid, and stupid men are never tolerant,” says a Chinese proverb. There is more than a whisper of truth in the proverb, since being tolerant is a challenge, requiring a commitment to proper standards of behavior. But to which standards should we commit ourselves? Would it not be logical to follow standards set by the Maker of mankind, as explained in his Word, the Holy Bible? God himself sets the best example of keeping to his standards.

The Creator—Our Greatest Exemplar

Almighty God, Jehovah, is perfectly balanced in tolerance, showing neither too much nor too little. For thousands of years, he has tolerated those who reproach his name, corrupt mankind, and misuse the earth. The apostle Paul wrote, as recorded at Romans 9:22, that God “tolerated with much long-suffering vessels of wrath made fit for destruction.” Why has God been tolerant for so long? Because his tolerance has a purpose.

God is patient with mankind “because he does not desire any to be destroyed but desires all to attain to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) The Creator has given mankind the Bible and has commissioned his servants to make his standards of behavior known everywhere. True Christians are committed to these standards. But does this mean that God’s servants have to be rigid in all circumstances?

Firm, yet Flexible

Jesus Christ encouraged those seeking eternal life to “go in through the narrow gate.” But going through the narrow gate does not mean being narrow-minded. If we are inclined to be domineering or dogmatic when around others, surely it would make life more pleasant for everyone if we curbed this tendency. But how?—Matthew 7:13; 1 Peter 4:15.

Theofano, a Greek student who explained that time spent with people of different backgrounds led to understanding them better, said: “It is vital that we try to approach their way of thinking rather than force them to come over to ours.” Hence, by getting to know someone better, we may discover that his taste in food and even his accent are not as strange as we thought. Instead of always having the most to say or insisting on having the last word, we learn many useful things by listening to his point of view. Indeed, open-minded people get more out of life.

Whenever personal taste is involved, we should be flexible and allow others to enjoy their own choice. But when behavior is a matter of obedience to our Creator, we ought to be firm. Almighty God does not condone all kinds of behavior. He showed this by his dealings with his servants in the past.

The Trap of Being Too Tolerant

Eli, a high priest of the ancient nation of Israel, was a servant of God who got caught in the trap of being overly tolerant. The Israelites had entered into a covenant relationship with God, agreeing to obey his laws. But Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were greedy and immoral and were grossly disrespectful toward the Almighty. Eli, though well-versed in the Law of God, offered only mild rebukes and was lax in his discipline. He made the mistake of thinking that God would tolerate wickedness. The Creator makes a distinction between weakness and wickedness. For their willful violation of God’s Law, Eli’s wicked sons were severely punished—and properly so.—1 Samuel 2:12-17, 22-25; 3:11-14; 4:17.

What a tragedy it would be for us to be overly tolerant in our family by turning a blind eye to repeated wrongdoing on the part of our children! How much better it is to rear them “in the discipline and mental-regulating of Jehovah”! This means we must stick to divine standards of conduct ourselves and inculcate them in our children.—Ephesians 6:4.

Similarly, the Christian congregation cannot tolerate wickedness. If a member practices gross wrongdoing and refuses to repent, he must be removed. (1 Corinthians 5:9-13) However, outside the family circle and the congregation, true Christians do not try to change society as a whole.

A Strong Relationship With Jehovah

Intolerance breeds in an atmosphere of anxiety. If, however, we have a close personal relationship with God, we enjoy a sense of security that helps us maintain proper balance. “The name of Jehovah is a strong tower. Into it the righteous runs and is given protection,” we read at Proverbs 18:10. Certainly there is no harm that can come to us or to our loved ones that the Creator will not take care of in his due time.

Someone who benefited greatly from a close relationship with God was the apostle Paul. As a Jew known as Saul, he persecuted followers of Jesus Christ and was guilty of bloodshed. But Saul himself became a Christian and, as the apostle Paul, later engaged in full-time evangelizing. Paul displayed an open-minded attitude in preaching to all people, “to Greeks and to Barbarians, both to wise and to senseless ones.”—Romans 1:14, 15; Acts 8:1-3.

How did he manage to change? By gaining an accurate knowledge of the Scriptures and by growing in love for the Creator, who is impartial. Paul learned that God is fair in that He judges each individual, not according to culture or race, but according to what he or she is and does. Yes, to God, deeds are important. Peter noted that “God is not partial, but in every nation the man that fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him.” (Acts 10:34, 35) Almighty God is not prejudiced. This is unlike some of the world’s leaders, who may deliberately use intolerance for their own purposes.

Times Are Changing

According to John Gray, of Oxford University in England, tolerance is “a virtue that has lately fallen on hard times.” But this will change. Tolerance balanced by divine wisdom will prevail.

In God’s imminent new world, intolerance will be gone. Extreme forms of intolerance, such as prejudice and bigotry, will be gone. Narrow-mindedness will no longer choke the enjoyment out of life. Then, there will be a paradise far grander than has ever been possible in the Vale of Kashmir.—Isaiah 65:17, 21-25.

Are you looking forward to living in that new world? What a privilege and how thrilling that will be!