Being Firm in a Place of Tolerance

[Navigator]

As I'm sure you all know, either through experience or hearing it from somewhere, college is a place of very high tolerance. Campuses (at least all that I know of), are areas of free speech and this has led to many clubs and protests being done for causes such as the gay rights, among others. As a Christian college student, do you personally find yourself becoming more and more tolerant to things like this simply because of the environment you are in? How do you reverse this?


**And by reversing being "tolerant," I do not mean hate on people; it is simply meant to mean that you do not concede to agree that gay marriage is an okay thing to do. Love everyone, but you don't have to support their actions and give everyone high fives for doing it their way and that's OKAY. That is not the outlook to have.

Thoughts?

 

[elizabethbraddock]

I usually do not agree with any of the protests that happen on campus, and certainly not any of the Occupy crowd or the atheist crowd. I do not participate in their events, and I respectfully disagree with them. It's there right to say whatever they want, just as it is ours.

 

[DarkHorseRising]

My school is massive, so we generally have groups on all sides of any given issue, willing to explain their side to you.

I think it comes down to what one means by tolerance. To me, tolerance isn't acceptance. I have gay friends, I have friends who use drugs or drink a lot of alcohol, I have friends who are sexually active, I have friends of different religions or atheists, and I have friends who have criminal records. I treat all of them as a friend and am there for any of them when they need someone to talk to. Getting to know them, I find that despite the differences, we all have common ground. But they're well aware of my beliefs and opinions, which are not subject to debate or alteration. It's possible to be tolerant without condoning things.

 

[elizabethbraddock]

My school is massive, so we generally have groups on all sides of any given issue, willing to explain their side to you.

I think it comes down to what one means by tolerance. To me, tolerance isn't acceptance. I have gay friends, I have friends who use drugs or drink a lot of alcohol, I have friends who are sexually active, I have friends of different religions or atheists, and I have friends who have criminal records. I treat all of them as a friend and am there for any of them when they need someone to talk to. Getting to know them, I find that despite the differences, we all have common ground. But they're well aware of my beliefs and opinions, which are not subject to debate or alteration. It's possible to be tolerant without condoning things.

Yup. You hit it right on the nose. You accept others, it doesn't mean you have to condone what they're doing.