No society can tolerate every idea or behavior, and no society ever has. Without exception, every social order establishes some boundaries for acceptable speech and conduct. A society that became completely laissez faire in its approach to toleration would devolve into anarchy and would soon cease to exist as a society.
Without some level of tolerance, all human society becomes impossible. Conversely, without some level of intolerance, anarchy reigns and society disintegrates. Without exception, every society tolerates certain differences and refuses to tolerate others.
The General Association of Regular Baptist Churches has been in a controversy about Cedarville University ever since the school accepted endorsement by the State Convention of Baptists in Ohio. This endorsement provided Cedarville with a formal link to Southern Baptist circles that paralleled its relationship of approval and partnering in Regular Baptist circles. Though both Regular Baptists and Southern Baptists are formally committed to the fundamentals of the faith, they are different in important ways. One difference is their attitude toward church leaders who deny the fundamentals.
Within involuntary societies, tolerance is generally a virtue. Not that every idea or action can be tolerated—far from it! Nevertheless, within an involuntary society, presumption should be on the side of tolerance. In any given instance, people who wish to deny tolerance must be required to provide clear and compelling reasons.
In any human society some patterns of conduct will be tolerated and some will not. Societies differ over the degree to which they tolerate ideas: Western democracies (especially the United States) try to tolerate the expression of all ideas. Other societies sharply restrict the sphere of ideas that may be expressed.
Tolerance means to allow the expression of ideas or the performance of acts with which one disagrees. It does not necessarily imply any measure of agreement or affirmation. On the contrary, where complete agreement exists, tolerance is neither necessary nor possible. Tolerance is essentially a form of abstinence. Tolerant people abstain from bringing force or other coercion to bear against ideas or conduct that they find offensive.
Tolerance has become a shibboleth in contemporary American society. We are constantly harangued to exhibit tolerance toward all manner of differences. Nothing is less stylish than to assert some belief as absolute, except perhaps to treat that absolute as the basis of a moral judgment. To be sure of one’s moral base—and to censure someone else’s conduct as immoral—is to be judged guilty of hate and phobia.
PERTINENT LINK: Video of Kessler’s speech on kare11.com
Last weekend I had occasion to attend a commencement exercise at the University of St.Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. St. Thomas is, as you might guess, a Catholic institution of higher learning. About half of the students are non‐Catholics, however, and the professors are all over the ideological map. Even the theology department has room for liberal Protestant feminism.
Not often do archeological discoveries and the publication of ancient manuscripts make headline news, but this is one of those times. The Gospel of Judas is the celebrity document, one of four ancient texts that were included in Codex Tchacos. The discovery and publication of this gospel has been hailed as a major breakthrough in the study of early Christianity. Special excitement has been generated because the Gospel of Judas depicts Judas Iscariot as a hero rather than a traitor.
Discuss this article.
Author Dan Brown uses The Da Vinci Code to present a theory that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and that the two of them had children together. The premise of The Da Vinci Code is that this theory, if true, would overthrow the New Testament view of Jesus. According to Brown, the Christian church has carefully suppressed the evidence for Jesus’ marriage and children.
