Tolerance & Acceptance

I'll be honest, lately I've read way too many blogs and Facebook posts about new laws that got passed, old laws that need to change, and how terrible every country in the world seems to be. I'm not always happy as a Canadian with the things that happen in this country, but I am still proud to be Canadian. I don't like everything the U.S.A. does either but that country gets a lot of flack it doesn't always deserve. We live our lives judging anything that doesn't meet up with our own personal standards and ethics. We see, we hear, we read, and we react. I believe more often than not we misinterpret messages and then misdirect our frustrations. I hear the words tolerance and acceptance thrown around a lot these days and they seem to be used interchangeably by many people. I tolerate many things I don't like but my silence does not mean I am accepting nor does mean I am filled with hate, it simply means I do not agree.

I don't agree with many things and that is okay because I don't expect everyone to agree with me either. The people who I am closest to and share many interests and ideals with don't always agree with me nor I them. This does not mean I do not love them, or even reject them as a whole, I simply choose to disagree and we go along our merry little way. I will admit that there are people I do not care to be around, I tolerate them. Tolerance doesn’t mean I have to agree with them, accept what they do, or even like them. Although, as a Christian, I do try my best to love everyone even, when I disagree with or dislike how they behave.

I have friends of various beliefs and lifestyles and I quite enjoy our conversations. They are challenging and fascinating all at once. I love my friends but I don't agree with many of their choices. This doesn't change the fact that I love them as my friends, but there are just certain areas some of them know I can't support them in. My Muslim friends do not support my Christian faith at all, but they do tolerate it as I tolerate theirs. I would not force them into my church any more than they would force me into their mosque. We respectfully disagree with one another and that is alright. 

This is where I cannot seem to relate to some of these zealous people who see any personal disagreement as hateful and wrong. If something goes against my moral code I would hope people respect that choice. If they cannot, they then have the choice to refuse my friendship and not be around me. My obligation is to live peacefully around others regardless of whether I agree with them. I think it is just as wrong and hateful to force others into supporting or doing something they feel is unacceptable as it is for them to tell you the same. It is not right for others to demand individuals or organizations to change their morals to fit another’s alternate beliefs.

Tolerance and acceptance are not the same thing and shouldn’t be treated as such.

You see, it’s okay if you are reading this and disagreeing with me. I’d even go so far as to say it’s okay if you are reading this and don’t like who I am as a person, I can accept that! However if you think that telling me I have to change my core beliefs or do things I feel are wrong to affirm your lifestyle choices is okay, I respectfully will be intolerant of such thinking. If we can agree to disagree and tolerate the differences we have then I think we just may be able to get along.