True tolerance embraces all

True tolerance embraces all

This week three things have coincided which have made me write about the subject of tolerance, the first being gay marriage, the second being a repeat of an episode of the daily show and the third being a Simon Jenkins article in the guardian.  These three apparently unrelated things are tied together by a central issue of tolerance.  Gay marriage is clearly about tolerance and as the bill was passed last night it was another step forward for homosexual equality and it also showed how tolerant the UK is of all types of different people.  The episode of the daily show was set at the Democrat party conference and it showed members describing how open, welcoming and inclusive the Democrats are. However at the same times delegates were making fun of how stupid and racist Republicans were which showed arrogance and an inability to listen from Democrats.  Finally the guardian article was mainly about gay marriage but it also mentioned how liberals are not truly tolerant until they embrace those who disagree with them.

I have been keeping an eye on the gay marriage debate as it has developed and I have noticed one thing about many of the bill’s supporters.  They have a tendency to be extremely derogatory to those who disagree with them, opponents of the bill have been termed bigots, backward and religious nut jobs. This is simply not the words of a tolerant person in fact it is completely intolerant of those who oppose gay marriage and it is rather arrogant to portray opponents of gay marriage in such a light.  Many of those who I have seen speaking in opposition to gay marriage have had perfectly valid points such as marriage is a religious ceremony between a man and a woman, and that gays should be allowed to have an equal institution which is not called marriage. Many opponents of the bill had nothing against gays but just had a core belief that marriage is between a man and a woman, this does not make them a bigot or a bad person.  In my own view I think that legalising gay marriage is a real triumph for equality but I totally understand the opposition and have great respect for some of the arguments against gay marriage.

Intolerance from liberals is not new thing it is actually rather common, if you look at most of the recent parliamentary debates liberals are quite happy to call anyone who does not agree with them out of touch or just plain nasty. It is interesting that those parties and people who describe themselves as liberal are happy to launch such personal attacks on people when they are supposed to be tolerant. The gay marriage debate has really showed the lack of real liberals in the UK, it is fine to support minorities but it is unacceptable to think that all those who don’t agree with you are bigots or small minded.  Before I finish I am going to illustrate my point using Vice President Joe Biden who is a true liberal and shows tolerance of all views which is why he is such a good Vice President. Anyway in the US Senate there is a belief that opposition politicians may be wrong but they are rarely bad, this was show when Biden was in his early Senate days he believed Republican Jesse Helms to be heartless for not supporting disabled rights.  Now unknown to Senator Biden Jesse Helms had adopted a disabled orphan, so was no more against the disabled than Senator Biden himself.  An older Democrat explained this to Biden as you can question people’s judgement but you should never question their motives.  So taking this in context of gay marriage yes in mine and many other people’s views the opposition to gay marriage may be wrong and we may not agree with their arguments.  However many of these people are vicars, grandparents and upstanding members of the community who are motivated to oppose gay marriage through a belief that it is a union between a man and a woman.  This is similar to the situation with Senator Biden, yes it is fine to criticise the judgement of the opponents of gay marriage but it is not ok to label them bigots. After all your either tolerant of all including your opposition or you are intolerant.