Recently I received a crash course in tolerance, particularly about the lack of tolerance in this world.
Tolerance is a virtue I'm convinced must be learned. Tolerance means to accept someone, even if they don't see things the same way you do. It means to accept someone even if they are different. Not to, would be to admit one's own arrogance and foolishness. To shun someone because they are different is the biggest hypocrisy of all time because everyone is different.
Tolerance is something that should be encouraged in homes across the country because it is in short supply these days. Intolerance has been behind some of the darkest moments in history. Hitler's Nazi camps, the American Civil War, slavery, racism -- the list could go on for pages. Intolerance brings injustice.
Intolerance happens every day; whether it be racial, gender, social or religious intolerance, it happens everywhere. Intolerance must be a part of human nature because it comes so naturally. Intolerance has plagued our nation's history from the beginning and it continues to be a problem today.
My most recent experience with intolerance happened just weeks ago. Over the summer I dated a really nice guy. We had a lot of fun together and everything was going great until he decided that it was absolutely necessary to discuss our religious differences. I think having religion is wonderful and so is trying to live your faith, but I don't think it's absolutely necessary to be of the same faith to date. Eventually his parents became involved and the whole thing became one huge mess. Now, we are no longer dating and our theological discussions/debates did nothing but ruin our friendship.
Looking back, I still do not understand why this guy kept pushing the religion issue. Sure we practice different faiths, but our morals and standards were very similar, if not the same, so what's the problem? Just because I sit in a different pew, in a different church, on Sunday doesn't mean I am a lesser person. Discussing religion with him was difficult because I felt like he was talking to me in a condescending manner just because I didn't believe what he did. I felt like I wasn't good enough for him or his family simply because I wasn't of the same faith.
Intolerance, especially religious intolerance, is naÃØve, arrogant even. I once had a friend whose mother suggested that my friend and I stop "hanging out" because I "wasn't of the same faith and therefore didn't have the same morals." Where is the humility, the acceptance, the tolerance that preachers talk about?
Morals are derived from personal conscience, and though religion may be used to convey them, having faith in a religion doesn't automatically give one an impeccable set of morals and standards. Morals are learned; they aren't inherited or bestowed by the heavens.
Intolerance has wreaked havoc throughout the world; it has been the cause of millions of lost lives. Yet still, with that knowledge, people continue to practice it. We should take a good, long look at ourselves the next time we are tempted to judge somebody based on race, ethnic background, gender, religious principals, or social status. Intolerance is simply a way to distract people from their own faults, because by being intolerant of other people, they can forget the faulted person staring back at them from the mirror.
Megan Leonardi is a senior at Fremont High School. She likes to write, loves school and loves the great outdoors. E-mail her at meleonardi@msn.com.
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