An Irony of Society: The One Way Street of Tolerance

You might have heard that the Broadway play The Book of Mormon recently won multiple Emmies despite it's anti-Mormon anti-religion theme (or at least that's what I heard it's about since I have not seen it).

Just the other day I read in the most recent Ensign an article by Elder Bruce D. Porter (of the Seventy) titled Defending the Family in a Troubled World. I want to share excerpts from the section he called "The Shifting Definition of Tolerance."

Until recently in our national history, tolerance referred to racial and religious non-discrimination. It meant civility in the political arena; in others words, respecting the right of others to express their views, even if we do not agree with them. It meant treating all people with decency and respect. Such tolerance is an important and vital part of our American heritage.

Today, however, the world is in danger of abandoning all sense of absolute right or wrong, all morality and virtue, replacing them with an all-encompassing "tolerance" that no longer means what it once meant. An extreme definition of tolerance is now widespread that implicitly or explicitly endorses the right of every person to choose their own morality, even their own "truth," as though morality and truth were matters of personal preferences. This extreme tolerance culminates in a refusal to recognize any fixed standards or draw moral distinctions of any kind. ...

When tolerance is so inflated out of all proportions, it means the death of virtue, for the essence of morality is to draw close distinctions between right and wrong. ...

Curiously enough, this new modern tolerance is often a one-way street. Those who practice it expect everyone to tolerate them in anything they say or do, but show no tolerance themselves toward those who express differing viewpoints or defend traditional morality. Indeed, their intolerance is often most barbed toward those of religious conviction. ...

Even in its original and correct connotation, tolerance is surely a secondary virtue in comparison with the far higher virtue of love. Certainly is is good to be tolerant of those who are different than we are, treating them with kindness and civility. But love, or charity, is the highest of all, and it is far better to genuinely love those with whom we differ.... By defending the traditional family, Latter-day Saints bless all people whether others recognize it or not.

Imagine my surprise and delight when I came across this article in the New York Times. Really makes people stop and think. And I was even more surprise at the "positive" or at least, civil comments written by people below it. Probably because most of them genuinely have an interest in this topic (this article is specifically in the Religion and Politics Section) and respect most religions already.