(In)tolerance

With Election Day coming up in California, (Tuesday 11/02/10!) I’ve been watching some of the Gubernatorial debates. (Meg Whitman vs. Jerry Brown) I’ve also been listening to a lot of people go off on their opinions about the Propositions that are on the ballot this year. And it’s gotten me thinking about how tolerant / intolerant people get when it comes to their opinions.

I think a lot of people believe they’re “tolerant” and “accepting of others” because they don’t go out of their way to convert people to their way of life. This is otherwise known as the “live and let live” policy of life. (As long as you don’t bug me, I won’t bug you)

But somehow I think “tolerance” goes a bit further than that.

To me, it’s more than letting other people live their lives as long as they don’t bug you. It’s not much further, mind you, but I tend to think of “tolerance” as letting someone voice a different opinion than you and not telling them they’re wrong.

Every debate I’ve seen or ‘discussion’ I’ve listened in on about this or that issue has always had both parties trying to yell on top of each other, interrupting each other and both mocking the other’s opinion.

And I’m starting to notice that it doesn’t just happen around Election season.

Test it out: Find a group of friends who think alike and try to voice an opposing opinion. It doesn’t have to be something you believe, just something that you can objectively see the logic behind. And see what happens.

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