Tolerance is not the same as approval or even acceptance. I can tolerate an annoyingly loud neighbor but still hate him. Tolerance means hidden or unspoken disapproval. As long as I acknowledge the right my neighbor has to be loud, and do not say aloud any of my offensive thoughts, then I am being tolerant. Is this a respectable virtue? Personally, I would rather be able to tell my neighbor how obnoxious he is. From the other perspective, I would also rather have my neighbor tell me that he finds me incredibly irritating than falsely believe otherwise.
Of course, that is a small-scale example but I could easily apply it to more controversial topics like race or religion. As long as no one is caused physical harm, of course. I am not promoting hate crimes. I do, however, support the right to say your true feelings, intolerant or otherwise. This issue of tolerance seems to fall back into a discussion of free speech. What do you think?
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