Tolerance.
In the wake of the recent online and in person Chick-Fil-A boycott/support
debacle, I got to thinking in depth about this rather exacting word. But even
more than this, I got to thinking about how this word is implemented in our
daily lives.
I’ve
been thinking about what it means to be tolerant, what tolerance represents,
and how this particular word is frequently misused; all too often thrown around
like a used bar napkin. And all of my thought left me with a single question:
Is the “outrage” on both sides of the political fence really legitimate
outrage, or might it be its own brand of intolerance frocked in sheep’s
clothing?
Chick-Fil-A’s
head honcho openly supports a “traditional marriage” and a “traditional family”
per the Biblical definition, to the best of his understanding. And this same
head honcho said so publically, in an open forum. Yet his statements were much
to the chagrin of the LBGT community. Just hours after the words came out of
Cathy’s mouth, there began an uproar of fabulous proportion. There was a flurry
of online chatter; an outpouring of negativity on Twitter, Facebook and throughout
the dregs of the liberal media. People were pissed. Hate speak abounded.
Arguments were born. Nobody won.
In
an answer to the outrage from the radical left, the nation’s evangelicals and a
host of first amendment supporters rallied to action, with “Chick-Fil-A
Appreciation Day”; probably giving Chick-Fil-A the single best fiscal day it
has had in its history. And again people were pissed. Hate speak abounded.
Arguments were born. Nobody won.
However,
who in this “war” is being tolerant and who is being less than? That is an
interesting question, with a complex answer.
Here
are the facts:
Dan
Cathy said he supports “traditional
marriage”. He didn’t say he is “anti-gay”. He didn’t say that his company
won’t hire gay people. The words, “gay people shouldn’t have rights” never
crossed his lips. All he said was that he believes marriage is between a man
and a woman.
And
while I don’t personally agree with Dan Cathy’s stance regarding same sex
unions, I will support his right to say it with my dying breath. Why? Because
we live in a country were we have the right to believe in any religion we
choose, to support the dogma of that religion and to announce how we feel, even
if that feeling isn’t popular.
You
see, it’s not my place to judge Dan Cathy for his lifestyle or his beliefs
anymore than it is my place to judge the LBGT community for theirs. And guess
what? It isn’t yours either. Principals only mean something if you stand by
them when they are inconvenient. That includes the principal of tolerance.
The
private, charitable organizations Dan Cathy funds? These things are also not my
business. Nor are they yours. What Dan Cathy does with his money is also his
right. What I do with my money is my business. What you do with your money is
yours. Get the picture?
To believe
that Dan Cathy is a homophobe, an intolerant ass and a villain based on his
statements alone, makes you the very definition of the word, intolerant.
Yet,
when it comes to tolerance, when it comes to fighting for rights, I have to
ask: Have we, as a people, learned nothing from history?
Hate
only ever begets hate. Hate speak only begets more hate speak. And on this
highly emotionally charged, socially polarizing issue, I have seen my fill of
hate from both sides. It’s not productive. It’s not forward thinking. And
frankly, it’s a waste of time.
Instead
of hate, why not love your enemies; why not tolerate them for their faults and
for their affronts to you (be they perceived or real) with loving kindness
instead of hateful rants and ravings? Because, as history has taught us, that is
the only way to truly create change.
Dan
Cathy isn’t the enemy. Chick-Fil-A is not the poster child for hatred and
bigotry. People aren’t being brainwashed to be homophobic through the strategic
use of chicken sandwiches any more than they are being brainwashed to “turn
gay” by watching reruns of “Will and Grace”. The problem with the world today
is that we allow the fanatics to run it, to polarize the remaining few of us
who remain sane, and to anger those of us who remain firmly planted in the
principals of right and wrong, of justice and injustice and of what is really
tolerance and what isn’t.
Maybe
it’s time to think about the principal of your fight instead of the person you
want to pick a fight with? Perhaps it’s time to improve your argument, as
opposed to raising your voice? If you can do this, it might just be the one
thing that changes the world in a time when the world desperately needs
changing. Find a middle ground.
That
is, of course, unless you are too Chickin’.
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Love the article! Makes perfect sense..well said :)
ReplyDeleteWell written and Case and Point made! :)
ReplyDelete