Tolerance...

OMG, you are soooo right. I am tolerant of the idiot at my husband's company that makes passes at me at every Christmas party. I am tolerant of the cashier at my local grocery store that is rude but because she has been ther for 50 years...... Tolerance is not acceptance and it is not a way to be nice. It's a way of hiding meanness. I would, in life, much more appreciate what people really think of me. I don't want tolerance. I want honesty. As you know, I am a part of the "gay agenda", being a straight woman with gay family. My brother said once that he would rather face a force of skin heads than to face one "tolerant" person. At least with the skinheads, he knows what he is dealing with. That was a paraphrase, but you get my drift. Tell me what you think, anyone. If I disagree, I'll argue. But DO NOT tell me what you think I want to hear. I know you wouldn't. LOL Take care

I've never actually heard the use of tolerant in a similar way as respect, although it is not surprising. To me, tolerance is sort of like pretending to like someone and instead of telling it to their face you merely treat them in a professional, without friendship kind of way. Tolerance is very judgmental, it is merely a way to hid the fact that you don't like someone. Tolerance is often used in work and school.

Actually, I do feel the need to be tolerant of people I admire, look up to, know will probably always be "above my station" in a cultural sense. I don't make a habit of "looking down on people"...but I do occasionally find myself trying to feel tolerant, 'cause I won't always agree with people or find my own beliefs matching up with theirs, and how they go about it sometimes makes me find myself wanting to do things I usually wish others wouldn't do! lol, but then, perhaps I'm an odd case. My relationships weren't ever really what you'd prolly call "normal". It's like the word respect, my way of going about that, giving it as it's earned...is usually not how people go about that either, xD People in general can be pretty judgemental, I think. ^_^' it's hard not to be bothered, thinking about it, I suppose.

On this we agree. I try not to prejudge anyone, I base my opinions on how they treat or interact with me or my family. I saw a PBS special on the "Journey of Man". It shows trough dna eveidence where we all started and how the migration to other areas went and how our bodies changed in response to our environment e.g. northern Europeans have fair skin because they needed to absorb vitamin D more efficiently because of the lack of sun. So thier bodies reduced the amount of pigment in the skin. So in essence all mankind are the same.

When I think of tolerant I think of a term where you listen and then think whatever you want anyway. That isn't a bad thing, but tolerance can either get you through a day with realatives or prove you have two faces you talk about of. Either or, it's still the same. Tolerancant is just a sugar coated word for getting through the moment.

Your point is well taken. When I "tolerate" someone it means I don't like them but will not give them the butt-kicking they probably deserve. If I tolerate them, it doesn't mean I like them or respect them, just that I am not going to go out of my way to hurt them. I can ACCEPT people who are different from me, and I can like them and even respect them, I don't have to "tolerate" them, because I hold no ill will towards them in the first place.

Again, 'Amen.' Imo, 'tolerance' is a prime example of the way society can be impressed upon to change the meaning of our language. Politicians and lawyers (sorry, I know it's their jobs, but still), among others, have been rewording things forever. Let's not forget the old saying, "It's not what you say, it's how you say it." It's like calling the infringement on our freedom of speech being 'politically correct.'

This is actually one of my pet peeves. I get so sick of hearing someone spout some cr@p about how tolerant they are of this person or that *as if* I'm not supposed to notice how bigoted they are by making that very statement. I called someone on it in one of our local outdoor bars not too long ago. My stepson's girlfriend was competing in a singing competition and one of my very good friends, Toni, who used to be a man, was there with a bunch of us. Toni is an absolutely georgeous woman, very outgoing and fun to be around. Her gender transformation is no secret...we're a series of small towns down here...and those who like and accept her, truly do. Some bozo sitting at the table next to ours made a few remarks when Toni went to the Ladies Room followed by how "tolerant" he was of people like her. I had a few things to say to him and he kept his trap shut for the rest of the evening...most likely because my husband and stepson were there. Tolerant my a$$...he was about as bigoted as they come.