Tolerance Without Compromise

To be tolerant of others it is not necessary to partake of their beliefs or of their manner of living. In fact, one may be tolerant of another and still vigorously oppose everything he represents, yet grant him his right to represent it. Tolerance does not imply that we must get on the band wagon, that we must think or act with the majority, or that we must compromise our sincere convictions. It merely means recognition of the fact that society is complex, that no two people hold the same views on all questions, and that all of us have our own right to think and believe and live as we choose, insofar as we may do so without infringing upon these same rights where others are concerned. Where tolerance still lives, even though a man oppose prevailing opinion, tolerance would respect his right to do so, even as liberty would demand it. Long ago the Savior of mankind gave us the key to tolerance without compromise when He thanked His Father in heaven for certain of His followers who had remained in the world but were not of the world. Sometimes our young people, and others among us, make the mistake of supposing that tolerance means that we must do the things that others do, that we must be partakers of their ways. They who suppose this have failed to learn one of the greatest of life’s lessons: that a man may be tolerant without compromising himself or his own traditions or background or beliefs or convictions or habits of life. Tolerance without compromising truth or sound principles or fundamentals is one of the great needs of this hour.