Tolerance (critics on Tony Campolo's Article)
Tolerance (critics on Tony Campolo's Article)
Tolerance
To
write an essay, concerning the major human values is not a simple task.
Usually, in this case, there is an option, either to accept author’s point of
view or try to challenge it, which is more difficult.
This
is always more difficult to defend your own belief, than take a point of view
of an intelligent person. So, looking through the articles I tried to find some
author’s conclusions that were rather controversial. After reading the article,
which deals with such value as tolerance, I got rather dual impression. Frankly
speaking, I would name this article in the American way «How to be a really
tolerant person».
On
the one hand it’s difficult to disagree that all people are different and we
should see them as they are. On the other hand I don’t think that tolerance is
achieved by making an effort not to harm a different person. It is written in
Webster’s Dictionary that tolerance is a fair and permissive attitude toward
those, whose race, religion, nationality differs from one’s own. I think that
Tony Campolo looked into this dictionary before writing the article. In fact,
this is the most laconic definition of tolerance. But if this possible to be
so laconic in such miracle as human life, I bet not. I’m afraid that my point
of view is not the only true point, but I honestly believe that tolerance and
faith lie somewhere in the deep of our souls, and we can’t just learn how to be
tolerant, as we can’t just learn how to believe in God. If we take a concept of
faith and it’s definition in Webster, it’s a belief in God or in the doctrines
or teachings of religion. For me it’s not just like abidance by religious
rules. Faith is a fraction of holy creature inside me, something that makes me
human, something that guides me through my entire life.
To say the truth, such simple ideas of tolerance and faith
by Campolo made me recall such book as «Windows for Idiots». In which you
didn’t have to think something over -- a wise Uncle Sam had done everything for
you. All you need to do is just follow the instructions of the menu, just do
it, just sing the songs they sing, taste the food they eat and everything will
be OK. ‘American philosophy’. But I think it won’t be OK if, as the author
suggests, you hide your personal feelings, negative emotions somewhere inside
you. It will lead to something that we often observe in the States. Sooner or
later those negative tendencies appear in shoot-out somewhere in McDonald’s, in
bombing Baghdad or Belgrade. So to my mind, a person may be really tolerant if
he or she does believe in God, a person who just can’t carry something negative
in his, her soul. As far as Camplo’s ideas of tolerance are concerned I think
it’s better to call them the ideas of tact and correct behavior, which is more
connected with the upbringing and education problems, than a faith in God.
There
is one more controversial pattern that I can’t share. This is author’s insight
on the biblical truth: We all created in God’s image. His point resolves itself
into the formal features of human appearance, which is not correct. A human is
a similar to God not to his appearance, but to the ability to create. A human
being is the only being on earth that can create something, introduce something
new into this world. This is the only feature that proves our affinity with
God. Otherwise we could only be primates.
Concluding
all these I must say that tolerance is not just a permissive attitude toward
others .We can’t just learn it anyhow. Of course, some of my thoughts may seem
controversial, but they are frank anyway, unlike the thoughts from this
article.
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