Are There Limits to Tolerance

 

There is scarcely a more sacred value in modern society than tolerance. To be intolerant is among the worst sins one can commit, worthy in most people’s eyes of condemnation and cancellation. 

I agree that we are at our best when we are welcoming, and that a spirit of exclusivity and judgment have wrought great harm on many. But, at the risk of being uncouth, I do believe there are limits to tolerance. 

I will say, before explaining further, that determining where those limits are is tricky and therefore the subject of another post. But, I don’t consider the existence of limits to be that controversial or complicated. In fact, I think most people would agree that it is essential to a free and functioning society. 

The unfortunate reality is that there exist in our world people who are prejudiced enough that that prejudice leads to unconditional hate and that unconditional hate to dangerous actions. If you are Black, female, queer, or a member of any number of assailed groups, you know firsthand deep in your soul that there are people out there whose statements and behaviors make them dangerous to you. It would not be loving to, in the spirit of tolerance, invite them into your spaces where their presence would make you feel unsafe. Nor would it be loving to, in the spirit of enforcing tolerance, reprimand you for wanting to preserve those spaces from their presence. 

Again, we can quibble with which groups warrant such grace, what statements and behaviors mark someone as dangerous, and how one would enforce keeping safe places safe. But it seems utterly uncontroversial to believe that there are groups and there are statements and behaviors, such that to erect barriers to keep certain people out is not intolerant but in fact is loving. The fact that it is, in practice, controversial to do so leads me to believe we need to have a more open conversation about liberty and tolerance and boundaries and rules.