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    The Intolerance of Tolerance

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    SE EEERE Ean Jest tn each case 1 loved ifr @ 8 i ech se these ‘gus ere vigorous cures once smn and eeany omy pret) eve ulorairbaunaaoatwa ofmeoning on othe rams hac bgt me owe ts bok, These osttna Icties are ‘cme ending doutand thinking hoop hist ond ii ime ccaomecr hs dor in bock form It does notte mache tur earnest sec tat the ies sors this sobect ftecagey aos Western Cheniy andthe are of stern “Kite lenges Defoe re i ung go ey an ne ‘ ‘The second stream was my book Christ and Culture Revisited (suo pb by Perdnans ha ook ponds more bial re tecisnand theology bt tmoreoescomerthe water Teed teaink abt tarein prety bond tems yeas thetopc of this presen bok smh mote aro oan, Astro te oat terdoe hover Thep noting ope hat ied ot for more de {ied unpacking ad none move han toernefitlrance Mt yu a hd in your hand ithe est. erp maybe {ren omtine tine fer bck hand Cuarteto Frid th underpins some of my angen ere ‘Se aa gl ony Naa yy ale asian, ‘or making suggestions wn or comping the ides Introduction: ‘The Changing Face of Tolerance ‘To spe ofthe intolerance of eolerance™ might strike some people ss nothing more chan arant nonsense — an obscure oxmoran, pet haps, as meninges a llc about the hones of cold orth black ness of white. Tolerance currently occupies er high place in West em culture, abit lke motherhood and apple pie in America inthe carly 19508 is considered rather gach to question i To int, 3 ‘ny te does, that this tolerance might self on oecasion be ilar ant is unikly to win many frends. To pat the matter ina slightly ‘more sophisticated way, tolerance has Become pat ofthe Western “plausibly structure" afar as 1 know, the expression “plausibly structure” was coined by sociologist Peter. Benger He ves tore fer to structures of thought widely and almost unquestioning ac cepted throughout a partiela ele. One of his devirative an rent is that in tight, monolith eufeures eg Japan the reigning plausibly structures may be enormously complex — that there nay be many interlocking stances that are widely assumed and a most never questioned By contrast, in a highly diverse culture lke ‘what dominates many nations inthe Westen world the plausibly structures are necessarily more resteted, fo the very good reason es ang: ir fa Seg ty igen Now tac there are ewer stances held in commnon.* The plausiily strc tures that do remain, however, tend to be held with extra enact, Tost ay people recognie that without such structures the culture vib in danger of yng apart And tolerance, am suggesting Thc of the Western worl, pare of this restricted but tenaciously held plausibility structure. Yo suunter into the public square and (question iin someway or other not oly is tot at windmills buts ‘To cultaraly invent, lacking in good este, boris ‘hue press on regards, persunded thatthe emperor has no clothes, of at bes sporting no more than Jockey shorts. The notion bftolerance is changing, and withthe new definiions he shape of tolerance sel has changed, although afew things canbe sai nf Nor ofthe eer definion, dhe sad reais that this new, contempo {ary tolerance Is intially intolerant is bind to its own shor Comings because it erroneously thinks it holds the moral high (rounds i eannot be questioned because It has become part ofthe ‘Neos plausibility structure. Worse, thi new tlerance I socially Ungerour andi erainly intellectually debltatng. Hen the good hatitwshes to achiees better accomplished in other ways. Most of| the resto this chapter is devoted to unpacking and defending this thesis the Old Tolerance and the New Let's begin with dlecionaries. tn the Oxford ml Dictionary, che rst teaming of the verb to tolerte”s "To endure, sustain (pain ox arc Ship)""That usage becoming obsolete, but i stil surfaces today Gohen we say that a patient as remarkable ability o tolerate pin, "The sesond meaning: °To allow to exist orto be done or practised Wrthoutnuthritative interference of molestation; also ger. tallow, perme Tied To bear without repugnance co allow intellect, Brim eat, sentiment, or pnp; to put up with.” Websters Ur ttvdgedDieonary isa: "4 t alloms pert not interfere with rer rst he tigre: toga sf al om gain aren Oy Doe, 99 Imeodtuction 2. to reognie and pet (other el, practise) without aeceseny agreeing orsympatsng pur upwil ora he {seretes is rohan medicine to have flere fr "pce rg te ene cnt coat Sele cer people's igh have dferet blefscr race wi Cran atmo sppres them ofr god al ees dfions Son the enn age When we turn oBnae'srestent ofthe co Tespondng noun tolerance however mble change appears CNCCEPIANCY OF DINFEREST VIEWS the accepting of the fer Ing ews of other people en rigous or ola mates, and fneeet wad the people who od chese een ews thi shi rom accpng he entence of deren vews 0 acceptance of ileren ie rm econ other people tonne ete opcieto scoping tien vee exer ape rob n frm, but mas In substance” To exept thats cferent or epporng poston ests and deserves the right o tx soe tig sep he ponon ft mane that one no tengeroppoeng the new teerance nugget tat cally exept inganothers postion means blleving tat poston oe tue, or a Inston true your We move tn along tee exeseon conten opinions tthe serptace of al polos; we ap em ‘ermiting he areslaton felis andl with which we donot sea thta ta iinmcri enhe ‘iturin gle hp Seventeen nce Sur nw ng ‘ponerse apn ate gas ero Snguageeat tithe sec a gre ossting at bland cine arcoqaial Tse “incom ne cltserane tothe new Fano oan lance” means in fact nore diel shan ew commentson tonnes ih gest Prin eicpraycnege bth meanings coins n popular se, anf rienBagcaret the speaker orestermeans Forinstnce, shee ee aan person doer ies se gaps with lot ot “ut ace itech he thnks opinonsaze cre igh tm ele uo We dono tolerate ter ele Seal Jets mean tht necordng ths cece, sins do not ‘Since ae ligne sul be permite to ext or tha Ms Tsesnotaicettat er ignsae arvlidaisan’ ACh ts crn "hrisane ay rt oe rion dos hie si coring psa nt Chine ist that ctr iesinae moet gh ext os hein does otha Chi Tee sc ta religions ae gual wi? ou Christiane sme someone ase dvs he an tht Cisne ssa elton conan telrovn wee expat, hat Ch {nteicnarjeous thong toe fomerispatet wen he ner inceately vt eos Christan ae ng Be {Dia te bey Crisis do hh Jesus the ob 5 0 eau Chat rk thm lean nthe ome sens of Caen te ea eet remain, however, a ays of ech “edn viewed a sign of rons intern. ute IMncrdpoavabi one scond meaning of eran" Spettncdon an dewey todd. obeckto thes serion "htt aly frat oer signs Lets ssn fe ‘Shoment ate fat mening iets inven —Ley Chi ‘ine ply nt a eer lions hme much ight ns {Haren however mach hoe sme Chins ay think the ther ease uals parable Ama owned an opal ing of pei eae enraorlery, ao oy male, powers. Whowet wee, ble by Goud ed by human els. He had receed Tomntitanern alee to isan oon had ben ‘Tien th the ng athree sos eahtwhom beloved egal, Re each of whos he promiaed, none Ue or another, hat Re Sealy gov te ting Approchng death the man reaued, of AS, vail we tate god on ls promis, se secre ated a IRSejaeetomateto pert coer ng. The lew d TORS pct jo tnt tere were psc indstingsn- Tn LSeEnugnontyonetiad the magia powers Now one dent RE Emad each of is son nda is side and gre ac an ed and ony hen id sons discover that aa eft costed ing They open apgucabout which one no” fervent original male ng he ply, Nathan che Wie de {Sib ei bileingand commen [the brent investignte rsriminate, and wrangle all in ain {Which was the true orginal genuine ting Wasundemonstable ‘ims as much a now by uss undemonstable heme rue faith” ‘Wankng to etoie theirispute, the brothers ask wise judge to set Me the shu, but his ang refuses to discriminate ‘teach of yo in ath reeved his tng Salih from his father's and, lec each bee Tsown to be the tue and genie ring” tn judge urges the bor to abandon their quest to determine ‘Tichlnthe magi ona ach bother soul instead accept recast weet enn an ata eonison Te a ie of ‘moral goodness. Tis would bring honor both to thelr face God. ‘Lessing's parable resonated with his cightenth-centary Bn lightenment readers. The tree great monotheistic religions were x0 iia tha seh group should happily goon thinking that hee re nas the trae ne, an focus om ives of virtue id goodness free ‘af nasty dogmatism, the dogmatism tat was blamed forthe bloody ofthe previous century. What was called for, inoue words, was ‘religious tolerance, Theres no harm in ellevng that your monothe- fst eligion is best, provided you lvea good fe and let others think hat thei religion is best. ‘Small wonder the parable retains ies appeal to ceaders i the cwentyfirst century. People today are no less skeptical about claims to texcusve religious truth than were Lessing's readers, They wl en ‘lined tothink well ofa rcigonifitprduces moray respectable and teligiously tolerant adherents, Today, ofcourse, the parable would have to be revised: instead of dre rags, we would need dozens of ‘hem I not hundteds, to symbolize the mutual accepeabliy ofthe rary religous options, whether monotheistic, poltheiste, o no ‘heise And, ofcourse, we could not concede toda that one ofthe rings aly the origin In some ways of enirse, Lessing's parses not very atstfng. To make the parable “work,” at east thee raher ridiculous stances have Been incorprated into the sto: 1) The god-igure i the para ble dhe man with the magte ing, oolishl promises theringto each of histhree sons eventhough he sows fllwellhe cannot make yoodon hismuldplopromises. ar from loving histhresons equally hes pre- Seated ata weak fon who makes impossible promises. This not an Incidental detail in the story tis an essential component tht sets up voy the father goes othe trouble of deceiving a least wo of hi son i fake rings Sohas God made imposible snd musally eoniting romises to his disparate sons, ostensibly loving al of them so much heen up Wingo them? 2) Te entire parable presupposes hat we, the readers, now what God as dane. Farfom fostering a benign to zane on the ground that we eaninot know which rng ithe orignal {his tolerances in reality rounded inthe dogmatic certainty that God |imselrhas produced fake ngs because he cannot bea to dlsappoint, Lasting cook, 9 ny of his sons tn other words, the story “works” only Because the eer hs ths outsider's knowledge of what God has done. Fa fom ‘Thowuting acerain kind of epistemological restrain grounded nou ignorance of what God is ke, the parable assumes the reader knows aay what God is like: he isthe kin of fer who happily creates ‘outers ngs o ep boys happy an in the dark (3) Ua Fnplauabi i the story ete way in which the fake ings te phys ‘aly inlatngushable fom the genane orginal, yet lacking inthe ‘Sgt power If overtime the original doesnot produce dsintve ‘leasing ong ots magical properties its magic isso weak as tobe inclonat, The eouneret, in other words, are not oly good copies piysealy but they seem to workas wells the original provided each on hints the copy is the orginal. ther words, wear taken away ftom a powerfl religion tht actealy transforms people to multiple felipe lt doesnot inatteral that much whether one of them is ‘hal powerfulor not what matters that ts defenders hink itis pow (tie same problem faces the ecount of the dialogue Deoween ‘Timothy and the Musim caliph of Baghdad about ab Boo — an a Count tht Philp Jenkins as made popul: Cconadee the story tol by Timothy, ptirch ofthe Nestorian ‘Ghurch Around oo, he engaged ina famous debate withthe us th caliph in Baghdad cscursion marked by eason and cig fon both sides magn, Timothy sai tt we ae all a. dark ‘use, and someon throws a precios parin the mist of pile ‘or ordinary stones, Even serabbles forthe peat, and some think thee fund tb nobody canbe sure ntl day bres Tht same aye sid he pearl of refalth and wisdom od fatlen Int the darkness of thi transitory world each the Hoe tht it lone had found the eae. etal he cou ai — nd al the ealiph ould sy in response — wa that some fits ‘Bought they had enough evidence o prove that they were indeed bold the real per, bute fia ruth woud not be kxown in this wold (nce a therapeu peal bt ontyone precios peat Un ser nana the doing il expr the tne fr wht St, ve though esis ptable eid wit concept seme naan own power si fd conte to resonate with many senders inoue postmodern world. : pose ‘mone respect howtve Lessing's parables ot ey ont ran, Hoth Rll and Lesig thought that there objective rth out there ater thet eat ent one mage ing) but ee ational tnd secular presupposition roe tem ene tht eat in some domains he sno ace, Onc can ink that someting ot ter tv, and ee the ease, bu ifone cannot prove tht this something na manne ht confomasto the vets an dards of public cence, the west stance beg tlrance. ‘other words, the older ew aftlerance eld ether that th inobjeciveand cat be known, and that the bet wy to uncovers bold tolranceo thee no dare, since sooner or ater the tah tll win oto that whi th ean De known fn some domain, Probably eannot be know in oles domains, and thst he wie tnd Leet malignant couse in such case i benign tolerance ‘rounded in the nuperior Knowledge that rcognaes ou lit tons By contrart che new olernce argues tha cher sno oneview that is exlshely tue. Stong pints ate nothing more than strong preferences ors pacar version of realy, ach version ‘cual te. Lessing waned people ob tolerant esau, acon Ing him we nnn be sue which ing the magicone— but he Gi not deny tat here a mai ring The new approach ote ance argue tal he ngs are eqully ogi That means hee son for bing tolerant i nt thet we cannot know which rng is mag, nor da ths is the es way ond ot whic ing fs mae but ether hat since al the gs re equal ape or on-magle isinespnsible wo suggest that any ofthe gs emery leven Satoh ap ower Ne meter then we ann astingls the sgt pah from the wrong pal atipahs are equal sigh 7 iyutbepn wth thisnewview oftleranes and then elevate this but because avis hes sleet the syreme pation ntbeleratey oor were ecance- The oben that och mokranc, ete re ats uheson ener defn nckranes nolonet meron conta pinion say tot lee in pis, Dat Aree tina wb any questioning or onediting thee RaEUM sae eau nv tht worlews have as aa at ancesrcequaly a Yoqucton such posoders aaa atioa lent Forsch qoetning test m0 aie eter fr tilsud interne and must hee eeSidemnea thas beso he mete i. . ‘The importance ofthe distinction between the older view of tol crane ad mae ent ew anes De exert. 0 sees my summon of he now ow flere sage tian menue ese hr, pn: emi of weyhpacie Vert ef waite Ostia ob rains be one who lets evening exe tle et eed nation Declraion of rips on Tolerance BSc trace ile thereon of data seer wnye Mit one ot hldncerain dato be ot serstic aby sting tat tes ave the 10 Teens we be dma rox tndeod, dos 8 he eons te etn lon and Sue Tn, wes dgmatl nd abslte? Thomas A rane outa present othe natonl tama Chi Alpha Tene The defo ofthe neler sth SRN ut es, est, nd perception of hl re Sree se bo hen oft Yow bts and my ble + on poe Dn Te at of City Lemont ea apt el ST en a ee inns nC noe mw than meat tye ue 8 are equal and all rth i reatve=¥ If however, the new tolerance ‘rluates all valves and belies os positions worthy of respect, one may rensonaby asf thisineludes Nazim, Salinier, an childs: "lee — or fr thet mate, the respective stances ofthe Ku Klux Kian and other assored ethnic supreme groups ‘inthe next chapter collec a sample of curent developments slog these ins. For the moment, itis enough to abserve that under the aegis ofthis new tolerance, no absoliGam i permited, except for the absolute prohibition of absoltinms. Tolerance rules, excep that there most e no tolerance for those who disagree with this pect ‘efntion of tolerance. A, D. Gaede pts it Inthe pst Pe polit corecness]genealy centered om vee eens hey were enthuse nbout bourgeois moral nthe ‘mely "pink (ocialsti) because they assumed communism to bea malor heat to thle economic ad plea feedom. Today's ¢,howeer sintolerant nota substance butofinlerance sel ‘Thus although he politically correct world would ave a ret del offal grecing on what constatesgoodnes and eth, they havenotroubletallagreinghatntoleranceitseliswrong Why? eemise noone deserves toe offended." ‘cxede's shrewd insight prompts three frterclarfestons that pave the way for discussion in ater chapers, ‘ist, both the ol tolerance andthe new have obvious fmits, ‘he old tolerance, for instance, wll appl allow, sa, Islam to be preached na Wester country thats minimally Muslim. Ie may 0 $0 farasto alow milan Islam tobe preached, even whl it detest the message. Bu obviously i wl noe allow militant Muslims to blow up people and buildings: there wil be repercussions, and the lolence Wil not be tolerated In due court those who adeocde suc Vo sigh on tke een Grn pon ofthe a rnin rater Summer 93) mand tic raft te nets reo 98 3 2 actions may aio athe feed speak curaed Ag, the ld cee eitatlow tose wh avestecodumsintnpropagt tei see Set though mst of hse who defend the ld aerate ink SenaTus moray wrong slong avs about euthanasia and SENSE. Roweve they il proses those ho practise thy aan ee trcate hse conse wo commit euthanasia 8 & gr iance a appone to arose practice in geet rata te ne inance ight wel prove vey ler ‘srg bt wut ery ost ny relgon tht ks as sae oferta patho samdan, and would crn be OP Sez eligon tht advocates baring opponent. poe nth ol toleranec and the new leranc ay actualy share some ints oth, for nstane tort te defense of haone “es teach perhnpa more he Ost group wl ise what be Feat wate more inte second group wl hin omnes aries and nay bea ood hing) and both may even lee seat ot no the pac) of pep Decne Kes sre peeks to be rong) ther word, most n both spe wl aPihc ine athe ctu pace of pedo or at the stb ee i edopitint pornography, ot kas boeuf the damage se eesenmeneottlranee andthe new lute specter othe sar aefanetrees retina crowded theaterasan example of Fi eon of specth mute mite, where lrance mus ot pad ager thy do mot ink of lance ne arn ny as weave sen) ad eye thy dom ee de Tar erne, bower understood, nl the sme ae toe trporany, Gaede’ nig eee to above ht the olferanee dae it ine on the basis of abstanive aE sea oat ath godess, dlng arm, ad protecting soe and seria ile the new teerance dv ts its onthe bes of ast petoe to be itlram, whi hs become te supreme vi caeeeeerenenewtleranc often Ana no more eld epithet to AYeRan th wom thy cng han etter and elated ete bgt nnn minded ignorant aed so ft Adbor sae ert ot tleane arty charge tel opponents wth noe See Ghnoog hatte wt is books dng; eer, hei {RG ve shaped by tel prepon othe el that cannot bea 4 erated (s0 defenders of euthanasia are commiting murder, suicide bombers are terrorists, and so fre) ‘he fat thatthe new tolerance Is most pron to abe al of its ‘opponents intolerant leads to second reflection, The charge of nol ‘rane has come wo wield enormous power in much of Western eul- fre atleast as much asthe eae of seommunise during the Me- Cathy year It functions asa “defesterbelief" A defester belief Dele that defen other belie — ie, fy hold a defete elie be tue (whether it is true of not i eleva, you cannot possibly Dold contain other bei tobe true: the dfeater belie rules certain ‘othe bells out of cour and thus defeats them, Fr instance, i you bie eat theres noone way to sation and tha those who tink there is ony one vay co salvation are ignorant and intlerant, then ‘oes that insist Isl see ony way, oF hat Jesus the onl wa, wil ot be edible to yous you wl dismiss thee beliefs as Ignorant tnd intolerant, icely detested by sour own bli tat there eannot poss be only one way to salvation Yourbelithas defeated theirs. Sofa Chain articulates a well hough out exposition of who Jesu is and what he has done, ineuding hw his cross and resutee tion constitute the aly way by whieh human being ean be reconciled {to God, the person who holds the defater belle Ive just described ray listen vith some intellectual interest but ready demise every thing you sy thot much thought. Pu ogee several such de- feater belief snd make them widely poplar and you have erated an implausibly structure: opposing beefs are thought 0 implausible ‘tobe scarcely worthlisteningto etalon compelling or convincing ut these last two reflections together andthe stops ofthe chal lenge becomes daunting and alarming. The new tolerance tend 0 sold serious engagement ovr dificult moral issues, analyzing a ‘ost vey ase onthe one ani lett toleran, excluding th ttatom the pantheon ofthe ituous who donot alg with this axis ethaps the taddes blind spot fallin eis stance isthe llareco re ‘ognize just how caltrally riven tis patculardeeatr belies. For Insane, inthe Mile Hast almost noone holds the belie that al ro bg nen rf pow Date, 08h religions ae of equal valu; fo dispute the postulate that there is ‘nlyone way What hat ways ofcourse, is dsputd, Advocates ofthe ‘ow tolerance ae inclined fo lok down on the sssorted cultures of| the ite East, holding that fhe people in that region were al as "Noterant” asthe advocates ofthe New tolerance themselves, peace ‘vould eign iumphant Meanwhile many etzens ofthe Middle East Tow the advocates ofthe new tolerance as effete people who hold Tothing precious bt material posessons, who cannot think deeply outright and wong, about tut and eo, let aloe about God ‘oo fewon both ses ponder how one might build acute in which people may song dagree with one another oer fundamentals ind vlerate the opponents Because they ae human beings made the image of God. hid granted that both ee ol tolerance and the new set imi to tolerance; not fore momen an aggesting that he od tolerance Soaps got things ight while the new olerance always gets dings ‘tony mali enough to remember when a many pars ofthis coun ty Aian Americans could not si in the front of dhe Bus: it was not talrted. arguably, we ae a0 pollcally comet today that we worry tgond reason about uending ne, developing endless eireumlo ‘ons ef “hearing impulte) for pefety good expressions (es, wea) the fp sie i that is rele to observe that words like “Chin “apie -wop.” and "ook" have been thinned out Prejudice rhever ately disappear ofcourse nde are wise to heed engoing ‘Moning against" Non however, chewaenings against such tereo- ‘pte! peje ae delvced with such massive condescension and [rons to many arenas that new forms of prejudice spring up Hike dan ‘etione in wld ik ts what ames Kalb ney ells “inquisitorial tolerance Bernard Goldberg pts the problem bunt: Hore'sthe problem, afar concerned Over the years, 8 we Docnine lens cloved-minded and more tolerant of al the right sc am nt a frat ef

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