I've never found a quote that expresses my feelings about tolerance & personal liberty better than this one. But as soon as I share it, it's interesting how polarizing a quote on tolerance can become...
"Why not let people differ about their answers to the great mysteries of the Universe? Let each seek one's own way to the highest, to one's own sense of supreme loyalty in life, one's ideal of life. Let each philosophy, each world-view bring forth its truth and beauty to a larger perspective, that people may grow in vision, stature and dedication.
The religions of humanity should be a unifying force, for all the great religions reveal a basic unity in ethics. Whether it be Judaism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Buddhism or Confucianism, all grow out of a sense of the sacredness of human life. This moral sensitivity to the sacredness of human personality -- the Commandments not to kill, not to hurt, not to put a stumbling block in the path of the blind, not to neglect the widow or the fatherless, not to exploit the servant or the worker -- all this can be found in the bibles of humanity, in all the sacred books. All teach in substance: "Do unto others as you would that others should do unto you." There is, then, a basic unity among the great religions in the matter of ethics.
True, there are religious philosophies which turn people away from the world, from the here and now, concentrating life-purposes on salvation for one's self or a mystic union with some supernatural reality. But most of the great religions agree on mercy, justice, love -- here on earth.
And they agree that the great task is to move people from apathy, from an acceptance of the evils in life, to face the possibilities of the world, to make life sweet for one another instead of bitter. This is the unifying ethical task of all the religions -- yes, of all the philosophies of humankind. There is no need to force our own theological points of view upon one another or to insist that the moral life grows out of final, absolute authority."
- Algernon Black
The way I see it, religion, philosophy, politics - any filter, really - can be a great lens through which to view the world. As long as you recognize that the lens itself is also coming between you and the world.
It's my personal conviction that only you know through which lens you can finally see most clearly... I'm talking about the acceptance that not everybody wears (or should wear) the same prescription.
In response to that, a friend said, "But then the problem arises of one personal truth in conflict with another's personal truth. Whose personal truth trumps the other's?"
My response: is assuming the difference is a threat our only option? The key word here is "personal." I honestly don't see the need for a trump. That's like arguing that blue is a better colour than red... Who presumes to have the authority to declare a winner? Can't we coexist peacefully even if you love red and I love blue? Does someone else have to lose in order for us to feel like we win? Something about the lack of empathy in that concept just makes me uneasy inside. For me, it's precisely this delicate balance of similarities and differences that makes the human condition so beautiful and intriguing and baffling. It's free will, mate. It's what makes life so textured and rich and invigorating.
There was a bit of discussion that people from other religions/cultures should be regarded with some suspicion, because they sometimes have unfamiliar practices - cutting themselves to release evil spirits, was one example given. But honestly I think people here can hurt and mutilate themselves to try and exorcise personal demons just as much - only they call it something more "elegant", like: anorexia or plastic surgery or meth addiction. No matter what you want to name it, I'm guessing that troubled souls can be found any place on earth that humans congregate.
What drives this insistence that we should be policing one another, should all be clones of
each other? Or that we need an external absolute authority, instead of each being our own best authorities? I've puzzled about it, and the only answer I can ever come up with is: fear.
Seems, as with most things, whatever you're looking for will stand out to you...
If you're looking for differences, you can find them. If you're looking for similarities, you can find them too.
Even in the presence of multiple differences, there is common ground, there are human relating points, ways "to make life sweet for one another instead of bitter", if you genuinely want to see them. And I want so passionately for each person to have the right to do their own looking and finding. I'll just say that I often run into surprising arrogance from folks who wouldn't dream of assimilating others' points of view the way they expect others to assimilate theirs. I guess that's the truly puzzling part for me - really how can you think you have the right to expect anything other than exactly what you're willing to give in this life?
Where does this discomfort with differences in others come from? I'm guessing it's the notion that our particular beliefs are objective, transferrable fact - when really our beliefs are our own (or someone else's) subjective constructs that we have elected to accept. These choices and the resulting constructs become our truth. We choose to have faith, hope, apathy, or cynicism because it's serving a purpose for us. And for most of us that purpose falls somewhere on a sliding continuum between present and future, or altruism and selfishness.
Picture several thousand people attending a big concert in an arena... Now choose ten random people distributed in different locations throughout the audience, looking at the stage from their different seats. Some are centre, some are aisle. Some are down in the front row, some are all the way up in the nosebleeds. Each person will have a different sightline or perspective based on the variations in light, shadow, distance, and obstruction from their respective location. Bottom line: if you took a photo of the band on stage from each individual spot, none of the photos would look the same... But these variations don't make one perspective any less true than the other. It is, instead, the truth from that angle.
In my humble opinion (and I know some, maybe even a lot of people won't agree), the ability to appreciate tolerance and empathy in this way has more to do with the person themselves, than with their respective religion.
Call me crazy, but I think it's naïve to believe that we all can sit in the same exact concert seat. I'd even go as far as saying I'm glad we don't. Half the fun of the experience is sharing it with everyone around me.
