Territorial Bloggings

Nice blurb over at Beggars All, with a quote regarding the place/role of religious “tolerance” in the current culture, particularly as regards free speech.

I’d expand it out beyond “mere” religious tolerance, to the general/larger concept of tolerance in a free society. tolerance is just that — tolerance. Not acceptance. Not respect. Not endorsement. Not celebration. It is often done through gritted teeth, and even done against one’s better judgment. For the greater good of civil society, certain beliefs and opinions, and the espousing thereof, are tolerated.

The current, postmodern, relativistic, politically “correct” (to indulge in a cliche) culture, however, has been inexorably shifting the meaning of “tolerate/tolerance” away from the traditional dictionary meaning, and towards a meaning where to tolerate a behavior/opinion/belief is to accept, endorse, and espouse it. The only thing that is not tolerated (in either the new or old definition) is “intolerance” — aka: having beliefs/opinions based upon a value system in which there are absolutes of right/wrong, true/false, good/evil.

As Rob said, Yep. The truth is often not very nice.

Indeed. God’s Truth is quite offensive to our fallen minds. And the sinful Old Adam in each of us rails wildly against being reminded of that fact. And a cultural mindset built upon a humanistic postmodernism/relativism will never change that, no matter how often the cultural elites say it, or logically state it to be so.

-ghp