DAY 41 – KEY ASPECT: INTOLERANCE VERSUS TOLERANCE

I am standing in the corner of a boxing ring ready to do battle with an opponent who is in the opposite corner. There is a large contingent of my fans behind me cheering me on and a large number of fans on the opposite side cheering on the person I will soon go to battle against. The thing that is different about being inside this ring is that there is not going to be a physical fight but a verbal confrontation over differing beliefs each of us have that has escalated into a deep seated annoyance and anger for the other side.

I do not know how all of this began but people in my corner vehemently dislike those on the opposite side of the ring and this sentiment is reciprocated in kind by my opponents faithful. While we try to discuss issues in a manner that will bring about mutual agreement there seems to be no middle ground for compromise, just deep contempt for anyone they consider on the other side of the issues.

People who do not like their fellow human beings for no other reason than they have different thoughts from themselves are intolerant human beings. They believe that there is something wrong with anyone who has a different belief and do not give any credence to ideas that are not the same as they have. This disdain for certain ideas and beliefs can be carried over to the ultimate extreme where other religious, economic, political and moral philosophies make an entire group the “others” and people who believe in them should not be trusted.

Intolerant people make life more difficult than it needs to be. They often do not treat those who are different with kindness, dignity and respect. They demean them with the most vicious verbal attacks. Their outright contempt may even try to prevent those not like themselves from having a decent and better life.

Intolerance eventually can take on a life of its own. It can act like a virus spreading from one person to someone else to another person until it reaches the overall masses. At that point it affects people to where it is not just a personal preference but a societal epidemic. This is what the fans around the ring are doing, being infected with a virus of annoyance and anger towards people who they believe are their opponent.

Luckily for humanity there are far more tolerant than intolerant human beings. They accept people as they are. They know that people will disagree on ideological grounds but value what differences can make in the pursuit of finding a better course to take.

Tolerant human beings do not disparage anyone who is not the same. The kind and encouraging words they say to their loved ones they say to those completely unlike themselves. They welcome others with open arms willing to give everyone a chance to show their good and decent side.

Tolerant people know that human life is a matter of circumstance. Where our parents live determines one’s nationality. Our parents religion often becomes each child’s religion. Our parents’ genetic makeup determines one’s genetic makeup including one’s race. We also inherit an ethnic lineage that goes back centuries if not a millennium. A person’s sexual orientation is as natural to that person as taking a breath of air. Each of us comes into this world with a number of pre-set factors because of what we inherit from the people each of us is born to.

What eventually causes the difference between an intolerant and tolerant human being is the type of thoughts a person has. Anti-thoughts are at the center of intolerance. They put others down in those silent words people say to themselves creating a dislike for those who are not the same and often believing and wishing the world could be rid of people like “them”.

The virus of anti-thoughts and intolerance can spread to others with devastating results. Other people who may not originally have those disparaging thoughts hear them and somehow they start to believe in their factuality and validity. Over time thousands, if not millions, of our fellow human beings get caught up in the infection of intolerance just like any physiological disease.

Viruses that make us physically ill do not infect everyone. Their immune system somehow prevents it from taking hold. The same can be said about those who do not become infected with the virus of intolerance. They have a mindset that allows them to be objective and understand that not tolerating differences makes no logical sense. It is as if they have a psychological immunity or have taken a vaccine to prevent disliking and opposing those who are different.

Seeing all of these people with disdain for their fellow human beings I now realize that intolerance for differences in both what we believe and how we look is the barrier that keeps us separate and apart. The more acceptance we have for those who are not like oneself, the more we will remove the barriers that keep us apart and find that on the other side of that wall is a more cooperative and beneficial world for everyone.