On Tolerance.

One of the watchwords of the political correctness movement is "tolerance," which means "the capacity for or the practice of recognizing and respecting the beliefs or practices of others." Of course, the opposite is "intolerant," which means "unwilling to tolerate differences in opinions, practices, or beliefs, especially religious beliefs."

The word "intolerant" is invariably used by the left to characterize the 'meanness' of those who would dare to oppose the leftist movement du jour. For example, if someone disagrees with the homosexual agenda, that person is "intolerant." The left, of course, lives in a big happy land filled with stuffed animals, bunnies, flowers, and tolerance. (And drug abuse and deviance and teen pregnancies and dead fetuses and...and...) The notion of tolerance really stems from the concept of "nonjudgmentalism" or "moral relativism." Both of these topics are best left for another day.

No, today it's "tolerance" and the "intolerant." And here's my point. The left, the so-called bastions of "tolerance," are actually the most "intolerant" among us. How so, you ask?

Well, use that noggin. The very definitions of "tolerance" and "intolerant" presume something different from what we believe. In other words, the left uses the terms to discuss things they agree with, a place where the term actually has no meaning.

Let's use the gay agenda, discussed below. The left will often claim they are "tolerant" because they support the gay agenda. But that is not tolerating anything at all, because it represents their own views. They don't disagree with the gay agenda, they support it. You don't "tolerate" something you believe in. If I am a smoker, it is completely meaningless to say I "tolerate" those who smoke. I smoke, I don't "tolerate smokers." The definition of the word, the fundamental meaning requires an opposing belief.

Therefore, if the left were truly "tolerant" they would respect and support the right of the anti-gay movement to oppose them. That is where the left will find the differing beliefs. But they do not tolerate those who disagree with them. Instead the left a) mocks those who disagree or b) attempts to change the viewpoints.

Call it what you want, but don't call it tolerance.