This Hatred We Call Tolerance

This Hatred We Call Tolerance

Two kinds of tolerance:

1) the ability
or willingness
to tolerate something, such as
the existence of opinions or behavior
that one does not necessarily agree with;

2) the capacity to endure
continued subjection
to something
without adverse reaction.

Love your neighbor
as he tries to destroy you
by gathering the troops,
circling the legislative wagons.
Why? Really, why are we obligated
to tolerate those who hate us
and are trying to destroy us? 
Why can't we assert radically
different worldviews,
different vocabularies,
metaphysics? Why are we
obligated to tolerate stupidity?
Why can't we just say,
"You are wrong,
and you are stupid"?

There's no excuse for stupidity and ignorance.
It doesn't matter how you were brought up
or what your parents thought.
Pick up a fucking book. Google it.
Consider a different perspective.

Hate the right people.


Hate Anita Bryant, George Bush, Sarah Palin,
Hitler, Rick Santorum, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter,
and everyone who makes you want to puke.
It's a free country, right? You should be able
to hate people who make you want to puke.
Because they will hate you, too. Without remorse.
But they won't call it hate.
They'll call it God's commandments
or some other nonsense, appealing
to imaginary authority because
they can't think for themselves.
Or they'll call it tolerance
in self-congratulatory tones,
meaning they find you repulsive,
but aren't they nice to tolerate you.

And we're supposed to tolerate this,
to have respect for their religious beliefs,
when they have absolutely no respect for us.
To deprive someone of their hatred is
to deny their humanity, to deny their right
to be angry at their oppressors.
Hate is strength. Hate is nobility and
pride and standing up for yourself.

This hatred we call tolerance.
Accept everyone, love everyone,
let everyone have their own belief system.
But what if their beliefs are destructive
to your very existence? Or just obviously false?
What if the laws, religious or secular,
deny the legitimacy of your very existence?
Are we supposed to be tolerant?

Tolerance is refusal to think.
Tolerance is a covert putdown.
Tolerance is an euphemism for hatred.

Elizabeth Harper