Tolerance vs. Approval

One of the worst aspects of the present’s generally low level of political discourse and controversy is the tendency of advocates and propagandists to conflate tolerating a person, activity or belief with approving of that person activity, or belief . It is done by people of various political opinions, and it dangerously ignores or even erodes a basic principle of liberal society – the idea that in a free society tolerance is mandatory while approval is discretionary.

The most important historical application of this principle was in the founding fathers’ treatment of religion.  In many times and places many people, including highly educated people, took their theological doctrines  far more seriously than most people in America  do today. It follows from accepting any one such doctrine as true that all the others are false, and often not merely mistaken  but pernicious, evil, and fraught with the most horrible  long term consequences imaginable for those who believe  them. In much of Europe, Asia, and Africa  this has led to brutal persecutions, wars, pogroms, mass deportations and genocidal massacres.  In the United States (and later in other places where liberal ideas took hold), there was something different –separation of church and state, freedom of opinion, and explicit legal tolerance of all religious sects and  beliefs. There was no attempt to suppress or stamp out strong differences of opinion or create a coerced, phony consensus. You could see your neighbor as a heretic, a cultist, or a heathen and disapprove of him and refuse to associate with him to your heart’s content, but you had to respect his right to his opinion and refrain from trying to force yours on him.  This has worked remarkably well throughout the history of the republic, allowing this to be a country with almost no serious religious conflicts, despite an immense diversity and intensity of religious opinion.

This principle  should be applied to various present day controversies and defended vigorously from both those who refuse to tolerate anything of which they do not approve and those (sometimes the same people on different issues) who demand we be made to approve, or behave as though we approved,  of everything we tolerate. It is essential to a free society.