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Tolerating Confusion: Can’t We Do Better Than Merely Tolerate One Another?
Associate Pastor's Column
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) visited Pope Benedict XVI in Rome on Thursday, October 12 of this year. Who is the ADL, and what is their purpose? The ADL’s current charter, written in 1913, establishes clearly their purpose: “The immediate object of the League is to stop, by appeals to reason and conscience and, if necessary, by appeals to law, the defamation of the Jewish people. Its ultimate purpose is to secure justice and fair treatment to all citizens alike and to put an end forever to unjust and unfair discrimination against and ridicule of any sect or body of citizens.” The Pope was pleased to welcome them and speak with them. He offered a short formal discourse on the occasion of their visit, and touched on the topic of “tolerance.” “We need to know each other better and, on the strength of that mutual discovery, to build relationships not just of tolerance but of authentic respect,” The Pope said. His approach to differences is brilliant: it’s not enough to put up with one another, we need to go a step farther, to love one another, with at least that minimal form of love by which we simply respect one another. In other words, let’s talk. “It is precisely at this level of frank exchange and dialogue,” the Holy Father went on, “that we will find the basis and the motivation for a solid and fruitful relationship.” In summary, he asserts that tolerance is no service to anyone; let’s replace tolerance with both respect and dialogue. After all, if we tolerate someone, we’re just asserting, “You or your position have the moral quality of evil, and I will do nothing more than endure you.” It is impossible for the human mind not to form a moral evaluation of a spiritual or cultural reality. When we see someone’s behavior, when we learn about any given philosophical position, or discover our neighbor’s religious beliefs, or witness a political decision or action, it is natural and unavoidable for man to form a judgment on the matter, and this is not the same as judgmentalism. One thing is to judge to discern and understand, maybe approving and maybe condemning; another is to judge with rash condemnation. Even those who love to condemn everyone around them for being judgmental are themselves the most judgmental of all, for they cannot escape the natural inclination to discern good from evil, even if they bend that natural inclination to error. And so there is a true tolerance, where one discerns good from evil, truth from error or in some cases maybe even from lies. And then there is an abuse tolerance, where “tolerance” is an empty word slung around wildly as a rhetorical tool to intimidate others into agreeing with “my position” at all costs. A recent example will make this more clear. Pope Benedict visited Germany in late summer, and in Regensburg, he entered into dialogue with the Muslim world, showing the differences between Catholic and Muslim positions on the relationship between faith and reason. We all witnessed the entire Muslim world respond with extreme violence: murders, parliamentary condemnations, riots in the streets, torching of Churches. Curiously enough, many of the perpetrators of these heinous acts readily accused the Pope and Catholicism of being “intolerant.” While the Church tolerated the evils done to her by her accusers, never speaking the word “tolerance,” the aggressors screamed “tolerance, tolerance!” with empty meaning while they killed and destroyed. Tolerance is not affirming one’s neighbor in his error; it is acknowledging his error, and being patient enough to persuade him of the truth. If we could only enter into dialogue with others, tolerance would not be an issue; but it takes two open minds to dialogue, and often that’s a hard thing to find.
Note: The whole of the Pope’s short discourse can be read here: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2006/october/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20061012_anti-defamation_en.html.
Picture: Pope Benedict XVI. Thanks: http://www.adoremus.org/BenedictXVI.html. |
