Lately I've been thinking a lot about exactly what it means to be open minded and tolerant of others and their right to say what they believe.
For those of you who consider yourselves to be open minded (as I do) do you feel there is a definite need to draw the line somewhere? Should we be so open-minded that we are willing to accept and listen to comments that are racist, homophobic, sexist, etc. since they are really just saying what they believe to be right? I am reminded of the quote: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it" -Voltaire
For example, look at what happened to basketball player Tim Hardaway when he was prevented from making certain appearances after saying "I hate gays" and other comments. I personally am strongly against what he said, but did he still have the right to say what he believed without being punished for it? If you watched the video, you probably noticed that he didn't say it very angrily and sounded like he was most likely misinformed and perhaps even a little intimidated by homosexuals. He later apologized, saying: "Yes, I regret it. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said I hate gay people or anything like that," he said. "That was my mistake." (http://uk.gay.com/headlines/11062) But really he's just saying he shouldn't have SAID he hated gay people, I see nothing that suggests his opinion of them is any different now than it was before. In some ways I think sometimes it's almost better for someone to at least be honest about their views.
I also see this problem among people of different religous beliefs, such as those who say they are tolerant of other religions, yet still feel theirs is the "one true religion" and that others are "wrong." To me, religous tolerance isn't necessarily about believing everyone is "right" but more about believing that everyone has the right to believe and practice their religion as they choose.
What do you feel is the best way to stay true to your own beliefs while still being open minded to the beliefs of others? Where do you draw the line? Is it ok to be tolerant of intolerance, or close-minded to close-minded people? What do you feel makes one truly open-minded?
Ooooo. I really love this. What an awesome thought.
We don't need to be in agreement with other people's ideas, but we definitely do need to respect them. The fact that they think they are right just as much as we think we are right is something that needs to be thought about when we disagree with someone else.
Awesome thought.
Sometimes it is freedom of speech v. freedom of speech. Hardaway can say whatever he pleases, but if the public turns on him and boycotts his games or something, well, that's their freedom of speech.
The Dixie Chicks can say what they want about Bush, and people can burn their CDs for it. It probably garnered them a whole new batch of fans more likely to appreciate their musical turns though, so it was actually a good move. Once again though, free spech v. free speech.
The KKK can march where they want as long as they don't hurt or actively intimidate anybody. Were I the KKK I wouldn't WANT to march through Compton, but that's just me.
Obviously in some heated blog argument it can turn into "You have no right to say that," or thinking that someone is just dumb if they believe what they're saying. We all believe our opinions are correct, and when those opinions are in a democracy and have the power to affect the way the world is, we want as many people to think like us as possible.
Religion will always be the worst though. If you truly believe in your religion you think it is the only correct religion, otherwise you would be something else. That doesn't mean you won't tolerate other religions existing, but it does mean that anybody of another religion is just flat out wrong, and that just doesn't foster complete tolerance. Even if you can draw comparisons between your religion and another, you are really just trying to subsume their religion into your own.
To me it isn't so much that we don't tolerate other opinions, but that we don't analyze and learn from them.
Res ipsa loquitur.
memor mori, mahalo.
Your article was really very well written and I identified a lot with it. I attended a Baptist church service where the minister bashed so many religions, homosexuals, etc. for not being what he was: a Christian. While that sort of attidtude is not exclusivly restricted to Christians and was going against Christianity itself, it was in his right to say that. People should say what they want, but should not be suprised of the consequences that follow.
Rani Vanieth
I believe we have a right to believe what we believe. LOL. Ok, anyway, I think that open-minded people truely need to be tolerent of everything. I know, that what makes me a better persone is the ability to TRUELY HEAR both sides of something and based on the facts decifer for myself what is appropriate. I have an example of being tolerant (not sure if it was a bit evil or not you tell me):
A few weeks ago I was sitting at one of the smoking benches at my college. I was studying and this older lady came and sat down next to me. This was no problem except I was studying and she proceeded to try and have a conversation with me. Finally i gave in, she asked me what I was going to school for... I told her, POLITICAL SCIENCE. That opened up a door for her. See she said she was a die hard democrat, but then proceeded to tell me that Barak Obabma could not be OUR president. I asked her "why not?" She said "Because honey, he believes in gay marriages." (keep in mind, I'm gay) So I said, "Ok, that's it?" So she goes on for almost 15 minutes (and I didn't say ONE word the entire time) about how God created adam and eve not adam and steve, ect ect... she just went on and on and on. And finally I looked at her and said " Perhaps, God makes each and every single one of us exactly the ways he wants us." She looked at me kind of funny and then got choked up on asking me "Are you one of ...." I replied with , "yes, I'm one of those... I'm gay." Ohh man I would have given anything to have recorded the look upon her face. But I was tolerent, even gave her some gay bashing time and then calmly said what I said and then told her to have a nice day. I think it might have been a little evil of me to allow her to go on for sooo long, though.
Ceila
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ceila30
Well, I think there are certainly worse ways you could have dealt with the situation. I agree with you about truly listening to both sides of the argument before making a decision and choosing a side.
For example, I was reading an article about two young white supremacist singers called "Prussian Blue." (http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=1231684&page=1) Now, the article basically showed how they sang about a bunch of racist, anti-semitist crap...but I hate it when people judge movies, music, etc. without even watching/listening to it. So in the interest of not being a hypocrit, I downloaded a few songs and decided, yeah- it's a bunch of racist, anti-semitist crap. But I'm still glad I found that out for myself and made my own decision based on actually listening to it.
You made my day with that post! Similar things have happened to me, where someone will go on and on about how much they hate gays, how they shouldn't get married, how it's disgusting, etc. and I'll just let them go for a bit and then break out the news that they're talking about me. It's really funny for a minute or two because they look so embarrassed and usually try to make amends by saying things like "well, I have gay friends" or "well they aren't all bad" or some other crap. A lot of them find it hard to say it to our faces, because they have to come to terms with the fact that we're just normal people like them.
-JP
I totally get you there. I often wonder how being open-minded works with these sort of things. Most of the time I just try to remind myself that people have a right to their own beliefs, even if they aren't very nice beliefs.
Blair-O
This is a dilemma I'm faced with often, whether or not to be tolerant to what I think are stupid beliefs. For the most part, I think people should be able to say whatever they think without any action against them, as long as it isn't threatening. When it comes to KKK meetings and the like, I think America should take the same route as Germany has taken with the Holocaust. In Germany, it is illegal for a person to say that the Holocaust never happened. I think in America the KKK should be made illegal also, because it has a long history of violence, murder, torture, and intolerance towards people of certain races or religions. As for religion, although I don't agree with religion I do think people should be able to make the decision for themselves. However, I DON'T think people should be able to use their religion to prevent people from having rights (such as in the case of gay marriage, abortion, or stem cell research). Religion is based on blind faith, not logic, and thus should not be used as an argument for or against certain legal actions.
When it comes to people on television saying that they hate people who are a certain race, ethnicity, gender, or sexuality, I have no problem with them saying them because they'll always have some kind of repercussions. Think of what happened to Don Imus when he made those racist/sexist comments on air. He was later suspended, his show was dropped, and he received criticism from just about everyone. There's nothing anyone can do to make these people think differently, but if they say anything about it, they're going to have a lot of angry people on their hands and they run the risk of ruining their career.
As for people who say stupid things to me, they can say whatever they want but have to be prepared for an angry reply.
-JP
What do you feel is the best way to stay true to your own beliefs while still being open minded to the beliefs of others? Where do you draw the line? Is it ok to be tolerant of intolerance, or close-minded to close-minded people? What do you feel makes one truly open-minded?
Being open-minded to others' beliefs doesn't mean you actually have to agree with them. I am an atheist. I've gone to several churches(Eastern European Orthodox, Southern Baptist, Roman Catholic, etc.), listened to multiple religious opinions, and still come back to my original conclusions. I am being true to myself, as well as being open minded. I think that it is okay to be tolerant of intolerance. Personally, I am tolerant of others. Even if they are intolerant, that is their decision, not mine. I can only accept their attitudes, while supporting my decisions with my morals. We have no control over narrow-minded individuals, so there really is no point in disputing what they choose to believe. If they make the decision to be anti-gay, so be it. It would be close-minded to ignore their opinions. Likewise, being open-minded to others' lifestyles doesn't mean you actually have to agree with them.
I believe the line should be drawn when a person is actually harmed by another(physically, financially, or socially). As far as mentally, it is the defendants' choice to let discrimination bring them down or not.
-Kate!
People must understand the responsibility and the weight of words, someone who is living his/her life in the public spotlight needs to create some awareness about the fact that they reach a big crowd.
Therefore to go say or express hateful personal opinions is never a very wise action.
Other than that people can think and say whatever pleases them, it will make them just like all other individuals around, the spiritually rich or poor being that they are amongst many other.