On Tolerance and Acceptance

Something leftists love to do is berate conservatives for being "intolerant."  After all, who wants to be intolerant except for a bunch of angry hate-mongers?

Not me, that's for certain.  It's why I tolerate even the most ridiculous and disgusting things in life.*

"That isn't true!" you might say, particularly if you are one of my liberal friends.  "You're a Christian conservative!  You aren't tolerant of my abortion views, or gays and bla...well, gays!"

"On the contrary," I would reply.  "I'm talking to you, aren't I?"

One of the most subversive leftist redefinitions of recent decades is the conflation of the words "tolerance" and "acceptance."

Obviously, these two words have very similar meanings and are quite interchangeable in many circumstances.   However, when it comes to opinions and choices, those two words can mean two very different things.

Let's take the joke from before about my "lack of tolerance" for abortion and gays.  Is that actually true?  Considering I've known people who embrace the homosexual lifestyle and would have even called them friends seems to indicate that I'm fully tolerant of them.  Same goes for all my friends who hold pro-abortion positions.  I disagree with them, sometimes vehemently, but I do not necessarily set myself apart from them, either.

What I do not do, however, is embrace, let alone celebrate, their worldviews or lifestyles.  I don't even go far enough to accept the idea that their views and choices are equivalent to what I believe.  I will challenge their beliefs when appropriate and will not back down from my own.  The mere existence of homosexuality or abortion is not enough for me to say they are okay, let alone good.

This is the fundamental difference between "tolerance" and "acceptance."  The former concedes that there are people who think, feel or act a certain way.  That they exist is an unavoidable reality and we must live with it (though not necessarily without challenging their views).  The latter is actually embracing those ways of thinking, feeling or acting.  It is the point where one believes that they are good and/or should be imitated.

Leftists turn the right into haters and bigots by expanding the definition of "tolerance" (as I have put forth) to include "acceptance."  It is how, in their own circles, they can be perfectly comfortable with painting those on the right as "intolerant," whether or not that is an accurate descriptor.  Of course, once the right's refusal to accept that which is wrong is seen as "intolerant," the left can use that fact as a "moral" justification to call us "evil."

And once our point-of-view becomes evil, it becomes fully justified (in the leftist's mind) not to tolerate it.

*Except silverfish.  Disgusting creatures.

Hey look, it's Dan Savage, whose lack of self-awareness of his own intolerance proves my point!