Simplistic Thoughts

This message is for everyone; the religious faithful, the political activist, the atheist and anyone else who considers themselves an American. Lately, I have come to the assumption that tolerance amongst people goes only as far as an individuals personal interest or belief. Sure, some will allow themselves to go to the point of civil discourse, yet for the majority, tolerance stops at their viewpoint. The advantage of living in this country is the freedom of self expression and speech as well as to exercise said expressions. What we as a country have to realize is that because of this freedom, demonstrated in the first amendment of our Constitution, there are going to be viewpoints you are going to disagree with. Some are bigoted, racist, sexist, anti-God, anti-religion, and the list goes on- the point is each individual has the right to express themselves in a peaceful manner. This does not indicate that you have to agree or even perhaps argue their viewpoint but you can not argue their right to say it; understand the distinction?

The danger behind stifling an individuals right to exemplify their faith or opinion is in essence a battle against your very own right to express your set of opinions. Thus, if the time were to arise for you to denote your individual set of beliefs and all you have done is rally to have other individuals rights taken away, yours will be taken too. As my mother use to say, "you can't have your cake and eat it too". Instead, know what it is that you believe so you can distinguish truth from fallacy. Learn how to reform an ignorant, bigoted ideology instead of taking away their right to say it. One more thing, just because someone share's their faith or beliefs does not mean they are forcing/shoving/indoctrinating you, unless of course it involves a threat, yet simply it means that the individual is passionate about their belief. For example, I have friends of every walk of life, I love hearing their stories and ideologies; many have shared their beliefs with me but because I am confident in what it is I hold to be truth, I do not find their beliefs intrusive. I can respect their ideas, even if I do not agree with them. I can even discourse with them and present another ideology without disregarding their right to express themselves.

In summation, stop getting huffy over a Jesus facebook post or a pro-gay marriage segment on TV (these are just examples) instead respect another individuals freedom of speech and religion. Be educated and educate your children to the values you hold to be true. If someone abuses their right to speech in the form of hatred, learn to reform mindsets or cultural stigmas. Tolerance and acceptance are two separate entities. "Of course, there are dangers in religious freedom and freedom of opinion. But to deny these rights is worse than dangerous, it is absolutely fatal to liberty." -Truman