What is Tolerance?

There was a blog post on Tolerance by Uma on desicritics.  I wrote a comment that I thought brought out my viewpoint in the best possible manner. Here it is:

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If you look seriously and honestly – this world is NOTHING more than a bunch of floating psychologies. Bodies are just buckets in which these psychologies really float.

What holds people and societies together are the ideologies. Ideologies like Capitalism, Communism, Democracy, Religion, etc.

Now, just as the seed of tolerance in the people is sowed through the ideologies and how strongly they are married to it, the seed of intolerance ALSO lies in the structure of the same ideologies.

Unfortunately, every ideology carries a baggage. A baggage of ownership. And that curse called Faith (or loyalty, depending on what ideological framework you are dealing with).

When Ownership and Faith in or towards ownership are mixed together – intolerance is a natural result. It is inescapable!

When multiple ideologies LACK "sponsorship" of owners and STILL exist – they learn to exist in tolerance with others. Then faith is amorphous and there is less to lean on for the "faithful".

Unfortunately the Smart, the Enlightened, the Saints, the Gurus, the Prophets of the world could not BUT OWN up their ideologies. They lacked the humility to leave their ideologies afloat on the vast ocean of psychologies to take its own path. And they paved this deliberate path with the cement called faith.

We like idiots believed that was the way to glory.

Ask seriously, is it?

Tolerance is NOT in just being good to others. It is, in my view, being as honest as you are and encouraging others to be so too. For the true test of tolerance is NOT in tolerating someone who is nice (but dishonestly so), but tolerating someone who says things that seem to hurt you while he is being honest.

Faked Tolerance is Feigned Intolerance.

Unfortunately, THAT has become the Gold Standard in the world today.

Just think.