Intolerable Tolerance!

Sometimes we build such a strong case for tolerance that we fail to remember that tolerance,

like all the other virtues, can be abused. The misuse of tolerance, or any other virtue, may cause it to

defeat itself. With this in mind, our attention is invited to a kind of tolerance that is intolerable – the

kind of tolerance that is really indifference – the tolerance of a man who doesn’t care enough to know,

or know enough to care, whether or not his convictions or his rights are being compromised – whether

he is really tolerant, or just can’t be bothered. There is another kind of mistaken tolerance that has been disgracefully overdone, and that is tolerance for sin, for evil, for vice in all its forms, because this affects the lives of all of us, and of our children, and we have exceeded the reasonable limits of tolerance when

we tolerate things which contaminate and environment in which we live our lives. Things which

negatively affect the good of everyone cannot be the special privilege of anyone. We may have

tolerance for the sinner, especially if he is repentant; he needs our help – but it is quite another to

tolerate sin and evil in and of itself. We may have tolerance for all men without partaking their manner

of living, but we cannot have tolerance for vice without compromising principles. To tolerate anything

that contributes to the danger or degradation of everyone is not true tolerance – it is an abuse of a great virtue – and intolerable tolerance!