OPINION: Tolerance is now becoming a scarce commodity
Open any TV channel or listen to the radio it is striking that the news is about violence, there is too much violence everywhere.
People have increasingly become too materialistic, thus the fine balance between material and spiritual is disturbed.
There is violence between individuals, within families, between families, between neighborhoods, communities and nations. WHY?
The bottom line is lack of tolerance or being intolerant; today people fight because someone has a different viewpoint. Tolerance is about treating with respect those with whom we disagree.
There is great diversity of global population and this is under no one’s control and it is rationale to accept diversity as a source of strength and innovation. Diversity should bring us closer and not be the cause of violence.
If there was no diversity, the world would appear boring and unattractive, and without any competition.
It’s the erosion of tolerance to this great diversity that results into aggression, brutality and cruelty. Intolerance can be to political views, social views, religious beliefs and practices, ethnic and racial differences etc.
In an age where the electronic media has drawn us closer together into what is called a global village, or a global society, its benefits will only be felt when mutual goodness prevails, when mutual respect and understanding prevails.
If, instead of good feelings, hatred emerges, if restlessness usurps heartfelt peace, then we must accept that this is not progress, but is something that will take us towards unexpected results.
In the era of globalization, where people of different backgrounds, cultures and religions are living together, and where the world has become multicultural and full of diversity, establishing tolerance and harmony has become very crucial and important, and fostering mutual love and affection has become vital.
Tolerance doesn’t just make peaceful coexistence possible; another advantage is that being open to other ways of thinking can help with personal development.
When you know more about different thinking and ideas from around the world, it will help you to understand the world better.
Teaching children about tolerance is the best gift that you can give them. Children shouldn’t grow up with feelings of hate and suspicion.
Children who grow up with hate and jealously of others turn into unhappy people. If children experience love and tolerance, they will be able to grow up and lead a happy and peaceful life.
Thus it is the responsibility of every parent and schoolteacher to teach children about tolerance.
In most cases, a lack of tolerance is the result of fear and ignorance towards the unknown. An alternative way to think about tolerance is to place it within the moral domain and recognize that it is what it is, a moral virtue and that we should regard tolerance as a positive civic and moral duty between individuals, irrespective of color, creed or culture.
I believe tolerance is an essential component in social unity and a remedy to violence and prejudice.
Fairness and empathy are also very closely connected to moral development and reasoning. They are fundamental to any coherent moral philosophy.
There is a paradox of tolerance though it is less well known. Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance.
If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them.
The intolerant can become abusive, insulting and offensive thus the tolerant have to react. There is no freedom without boundaries.
A recent example is the cartoons and caricature of Prophet Mohamed (SWA), this was highly insulting and it was abhorrent even to most tolerant people.
What I disagree is the format of reaction, violence will breed violence thus the reaction to any intolerant event should be in words and not act of violence.
The condemnation should be in appropriate language and no more. A tolerant society however provoked should not reply through deeds of violence, modern and civilized societies should uphold the moral virtues of tolerance and avoid physical confrontations. After tolerance there is acceptance and understanding. Acceptance goes a step beyond tolerance.
If a sign of tolerance is a feeling of “I can live with X (behavior, religion, race, culture, etc.),” then acceptance moves beyond that in the direction of “X is OK.” You can tolerate something without accepting it, but you cannot accept something without tolerating it.
For example, when a son or daughter tells a parent about an unwelcome career choice, marital partner, or sexual identity, he or she wants that information not just to be tolerated, but also to be accepted.
Zulfiqarali Premji is a retired MUHAS professor. His career spans over 40 years in academia, research and public health.
