As a young boy, I often went up to the local coffee shop with my dad on Saturday mornings. There they had a string of tables all lined up together. The men of the community – farmers, business men, teachers, oil field workers- they’d gather there and drink coffee, discuss politics, solve the world’s problems, and tell stories and jokes on one another. There were Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and the uncommitted all around that string of tables. From time to time, the discussions would get rather heated, because as they say … Opinions are like assholes; everyone has one. Yet, when coffee time was over and it was time to go back to work, they were still friends, neighbors, members of the same community. They’d take turns buying each other’s coffee, sometimes even a cinnamon roll or breakfast. They’d laugh and pat their neighbor on the shoulder and meet back the next day. They didn’t always agree, but they always respected the other person’s right to an opinion. They tolerated one another.
“Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one’s own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others.“
John F. Kennedy
tol·er·ance
- 1 : capacity to endure pain or hardship : endurance, fortitude, stamina
- 2a : sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or conflicting with one’s own b : the act of allowing something : toleration
- 3 : the allowable deviation from a standard especially : the range of variation permitted in maintaining a specified dimension in machining a piece
- 4a(1) : the capacity of the body to endure or become less responsive to a substance (such as a drug) or a physiological insult especially with repeated use or exposure
While we seem to be reminded of the definition of this word frequently when it applies to certain individuals, groups, aspects, or thoughts within our society – it seems to be something we can’t “tolerate” for other segments of our society. Maybe we should just revisit elementary vocabulary where the word doesn’t take sides; it just stands alone.
