On Love and Tolerance

Does Love and Tolerance mean Silence and Inaction in the face of behaviour that is unjust? Many issues cannot be distilled down into black and white, but there are also limits which we must acknowledge.

Yes, we should strive to love even those who have done wrong, but we must also very clearly and forcefully act to rectify harm when it has been done. If we do not, Tolerance becomes an abdication of any moral responsibility and corrupts the very concept of Love itself.

To Love and Tolerate the harmer is to be the person who another beat their spouse and yet say nothing. We betray the harmed when we remain silent on behalf of Tolerance.

This is a shared duty, and the failure of a few is the failure of us all. To fail is to cause further harm, and silent complicity spreads like a poison through the community. You may not have been the source of harm, nor the person who vocally defended the harmer, but your silent excuse of such behaviour makes you a conduit for its continuance.

Love and Tolerance requires us looking deep into ourselves and deciding what is worth loving and tolerating. It requires acknowledging harm, rectifying it, and working hard each day to make sure such harm never happens again.

This is a weighty mantle to bear, but it is the one which comes with the virtuous sentiments of Love and Tolerance. To not bear it is to impoverish both ourselves and the world.