My boyfriend hates the word “tolerance.” For him, it implies the thought of putting up with someone, not truly accepting them. I’m not so picky. In fact, I’m not as touchy as a number of well-voiced activists or pundits.
I could make some sort of Palin-”retarded” joke, or point out any of PETA’s go-so-far-people-lose-respect initiatives, but those involve publicity, and reasons for being picky towards certain actions.
But intolerance, and really, a kind of picky sensitivity has been on my mind recently.
The thought first cropped up when I was reading a personal essay by a vegetarian discussing whether or not she dates non-vegetarians. She went through a series of relationships, and discussed how the issues of dating an omnivore, a vegan, etc affected their relationship. Overall her theme was, if you want to be accepted, accept that in others (i.e. eating meat) in others and see their reasons for it.
The comments were mostly other vegetarians sharing their similar experiences with relationships, or just some inspired people excited by her extremely positive outlook. One man, however, posted a hateful comment about accepting those who do something you admittedly despise. He made some good points but in a very hateful way. The author argued with him a bit in the comments before deciding to simply accept (maybe tolerate?) the man himself.
And, of course, my immediate idea was to call him a jerk and move on. After thinking about it, two more thoughts came along. Why should this guy be held to some standard of acceptance and tolerance just because he works in animal rights? Why does the idea that someone is progressive have to mean he is a good person, an accepting person? We’re all human. He can have anger. It would be sad if all activists, progressives or people were the same or even very similar. He has a right to be different and a right to be angry. There are good Republicans, Christians, Muslims, Anglos, what have you. And there are bad ones. So of course, an angry progressive is possible…and really, pretty healthy.
My second thought was a little more negative, but then again we all have those thoughts from time to time. It ran through my mind that, he’s right. If he (and the author) believe killing animals for food is wrong, why accept such behavior in the person you love most? I wouldn’t accept a racist, because I believe that’s wrong (a point I believe he actually made). Its one of those thoughts that is hard to deal with. We want to be accepting, but we have to stand by a view, even if it is not the majority view.
Overall, I’m glad this commentor believed so strongly in something like animal rights that he was willing to fight so hard for it. I was ecstatic to see a different representation of a progressive activist. I’ve met some rude, even hateful activists in my life, and it is only fair to represent our movements as having that kind of zealot.
And really, I was very happy to see the overwhelming response to this poster as being one of outrage mixed with acceptance. This is a great example of tolerance. Tolerate him, accept him, and just move on with the movement as you see fit. It was inspiring to see so many activists who believe he was wrong in his view – but more than welcome to it.
