“A fair, respectful, and permissive attitude or policy toward people whose opinions, beliefs, practices, racial or ethnic origins, etc., differ from one’s own or from those of the majority; freedom from bigotry and from an insistence on conformity.” Dictionary.com
We are an intolerant nation. Which is pretty ironic when you think about it. We are a nation built upon the welcoming of immigrants from all nations throughout history. We are a nation that has used and capitalized on technologies from all nations. We are a nation that has standing in New York harbor a statue, given to us by the French that says:
“Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, with conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand a mighty woman with a torch, whose flame is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command the air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp! Cries she with silent lips. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
She is called the Mother of Exiles: a symbol of immigration and opportunity. She opens wide her arms to welcome all those who are looking for a better opportunity. Just as we are all hoping to find a way to live out what we define as the American Dream. We all want to be able to live in a land where all people have equal access to the resources to carve out a bountiful life. And in order for this to truly be a land where all people have that opportunity, we must be tolerant.
Because here’s the thing: we all have different opinions on what it means to “live the good life.” We were all raised differently. We all come from different cultures. We all have had different opportunities and different experiences in life. America is truly a melting pot of people and the cultures they represent. It has been since the first Europeans settled here. We are not the natives. That distinction belongs to the peoples of the First Nations. The problem is that we tend to think we have all had the same upbringings, same experiences, same culture…we are after all, “All Americans”, and we think that since we are all Americans, we all have had the same opportunities. We haven’t.
When we think everyone has equal access to all things, we negate those who grew up in poverty and the struggles they have had just to have food to eat or a roof over their head at night. We negate our brothers and sisters of color who are discriminated against just because they do not have white skin. We negate the value of people who are different because they have physical disabilities or because they have an extra chromosome or a learning exceptionality. In fact, there are a host of ways we negate people because they are different in ways we don’t like or understand. And when we do that…any of that…we are intolerant.
Tolerance doesn’t always feel comfortable. Tolerance means that we are willing to learn about the life experiences of someone else. Tolerance helps us say to people, I don’t understand your choices, but I am not going to judge them.
Tolerance also is not about letting people do whatever they want just because they want to. There is a limit to tolerance just as there is a limit to our freedoms. We can’t yell “fire” in a crowded building just because we want to. We all need to live within boundaries. We also should not be so judgmental that we think the only way to live life is the way we live life. Tolerance gives us the blessing of embracing the wonderful diversity of life God created and learning from all of it.
Peace,
Pastor Beth
Beth's Blog 