Intolerance is pretty much a bad thing. It means that, from
the standpoint of an individual, that the person will not tolerate something.
Many of the Liberal and Conservative members of the American community
however, preach tolerance. In short, they ask why we don't we all just
get along with one another. However, judgments are made by people on what
they see as tolerant or in tolerant. So this judgment call is what I will
discuss today.
Example: An example of intolerance can come from racial groups
like the KKK and the Neo Nazi's. They do not like Black Americans or
anyone whose skin is darker than themselves. So KKK members will burn
crosses on Black Americans' lawns, Neo Nazi's will assault people, and both
overall will attempt to make life as uncomfortable as possible for those of
another "race." This is an obvious example of intolerance.
Now a different example. A person
who is a Black American, has a prescription from a doctor for narcotics.
However, that prescription comes from a doctor who works in an area where
both legal and illegal drugs are abused. On top of this, the individual
in question is filling at a different pharmacy in a completely different town.
Is refusing the script while just knowing these details
racist/intolerant? Well it depends on who you ask. Some may say
that it is due to the individual with the prescription being Black. But
if you take the skin color angle out, would that influence your decision toward
filling a prescription that is suspect? This is actually a real life
scenario that happened to a pharmacist I know and as to the rest of what
happened in this case I cannot tell you, but this is actually an example of
tolerance. If the script was rejected merely because the person filling
was black, that would be both racist and intolerant, however the other details
that were checked and factored in (regardless of the race of the individual)
make it tolerant. Long story short, we don't care about your skin color,
if it’s a legitimate prescription, get it from a legitimate doctor.
Example 2: There is a major issue of gay marriage
currently going on in America currently (or at least it is being hyped up).
But there are people like the KKK, and other intolerant groups who
assault gays and other same sex couples. Obviously this is intolerant.
But what about the Churches rejection of gay marriage. Is this
intolerant? In this case it is fully tolerant. The Churches (at
least the majority I know of) do not ban gays from their Churches, do not make
them uncomfortable, and the clergy and congregation have gay friends. So
they are in fact 100% tolerant (with few exceptions). But why no gay
marriage? Simple, their faith does not believe in marriage between two
people of the same sex, because God does not permit it as per the Bible and you
cannot create a child the natural way (i.e. the miracle of life). This is
the reason why. It has nothing to do with the church hating gays, but
that faith says no to gay marriage. In short, due to these reasons the
Church is tolerant. However, there are those who disagree and say it is
not tolerant. Thus my point, that people make judgment calls. Thus
while people are in general tolerant, they are intolerant of that which they
perceive as going against their values and that which does not to conform to
those values.
Conclusion: Intolerance is a curse we live with.
We tolerate what we want and shun the rest due to not conforming to our
values and predetermined notions of what life should be like. This is because
intolerance, I believe, comes from fear of change. That is why every
group, race, religion and all in between have been subject to intolerance.
It is the fear of what will be different. Once we recognize this,
and accept (not just tolerate) change, we can move forward together.
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