Those who claim tolerance often behave very intolerant, but they do not seem to be aware of the contradiction. When we encounter those we disagree with, our goal should be to educate them. If we try to silence them, or punish them, or insult them, then we are not being tolerant or compassionate.
“Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must fear or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don’t have to compromise convictions to be compassionate.”
― Rick Warren
(!) Do not fall for those lies!
Don't Prejudge me and I won't Prejudge you
If I hold some view you disagree with and you want to judge me, draw your conclusions, and end our conversation; that is up to you. It is your loss that you will never get to know the real me. Peoples views are complex and we can only know what someone believes by asking them about their beliefs..... all of them. If we assume that since they believe A they also believe B; we are judging them prematurely. If we assume someone holds certain views just because of who they associated with or once quoted on Facebook, then again, we are judging them prematurely. I can like one quote that someone said without endorsing every action they have ever done! I can call myself a follower of Christ without agreeing with every action every taken by Christians throughout all of history. If you want to know my views on a topic, ask me. Then we willing to listen for a while. My views won't make a good headline. Any well developed belief on a topic will require a significant amount of time to convey. If you ask my view on a topic, but start writing your rebuttal in your head after my fifth word, then you really didn't want to know my view. You just wanted to tell me I was wrong.
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