quote:
Originally posted by MagiK:
Chewy being tolerant is not always a good thing, should we tolerate pedophilia? should we tolerate murder, rape and mayhem? I think not, it is right and THE right of a society to set its rules for acceptable behavior. And in this case the majority rules, if you are a minority then you had better get used to the idea that you will not have an equal voice to the majority. 1 man/woman/person 1 vote, We as a society seem to have accepted homosexualty to a degree as long as it does not get flaunted too publicly (by acceptance I mean we dont drag them out and burn them at the stake (for the most part)) If you are a minority and you push too hard for something the majority doesnt want, you are going to loose. Societies exist to further the common goals of the majority of the people, it isnt to further the goals of an individual or small segment of the population which brings me back to the ida I want to respond to someone else with....
The type of tolerance one must have for pedofiles, rapist, murders, ect. is far different than the type I advocate in my above post.THat sort of tolerance demands firm justice as well. The infliction of harm that is caused by these crime makes it obvious it is on a diferent scale than the kind of tolerance that is social.
The kind of tolerance I advocate is akin to racial or religious tolerance. Cultural tolerance. The celebration of our diversity.
Choosing to build a society based on individual freedoms and rights, the ideals of democracy, demands a broad base of cultural tolerance. The majority and minority are each due fair and equal rights. Until all such culture groups are gauranteed fair accsess to all rights due, then we are not as great a society as we could be.
In the end it is individuals, whether working together, or alone, that shape and change the world. Neither the majority nor the minority can do a thing about it.