It was one small boy who noticed the leak in the dike and averted calamity long ago, plugged the leak until help could come. Lots of people have been noticing this time around, hearing Muslim protests that prejudice and bigotry are destroying what is supposed to be a tolerant society. But - like with climate change - far too many people have not had the eyes to see the obvious.

I would not be writing abut disproportionate Muslim rage if it were widely seen. instead, over and over, I've heard, "Oh those poor Muslims. No wonder they're offended." And from Muslims, with even more vehemence, "How dare someone offend our religion? It's our right to have our religion respected."

I don't want to be like that little boy, blocking the water from coming in, keeping things as they are.

I get images of super heroes battling away - Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman. Over and over the villains keep coming. It's almost always easy to spot the bad guys. But what if they're masked? What if the exterior shows someone nice? And even harder, what if inside there is no villain - but something that may be equally dangerous - a nice person who isn't good at seeing.

Instead of just looking at Muslim outrage, I've been bashing away, hacking away, at Western barriers - such as the barrier of denial.

Virginia Satir wrote of 5 fundamental freedoms. One is the freedom to see what is here - not what was, should be, could be, will be, might be. A powerful message from much of Islam has been: we are enraged if you criticize, and we refuse to change. That message has been met with enormous compliance from the Wes: all religions are equal, you have the full right to be offended, not to think, not to be shown as you are. So for the West, there is no freedom to see and explore. Instead the wall of "we must accept difference diversity difference otherness difference." One can only do that, with no limits, if one builds barricades against seeing, thinking, exploring.

I feel a little like the suitors trying to get past the wall of thorns keeping them away from Sleeping Beauty. But there's a big difference. Sleeping Beauty was safe. Imagine Sleeping Beauty ever more in danger while in her deep sleep.

I think of Chamberlain, the British prime minister in the first years of Hitler's rule in Germany. His policy: appeasement. He let Hitler get away with whatever Hitler wanted to do. He gave Hitler time to build, to strengthen.

The current widespread Western taboo on thinking, exploring and seeing is a dangerous taboo. Women taking self-defense courses are taught: listen to yourself, listen to signals of danger - because so often, women have learned to be nice and not want to hurt someone's feelings, like the feelings of someone following them. Instead many risk rape. The West, I would say, is equally running enormous risks.

Important question: what is tolerance? What is a definition of tolerance - especially a definition of tolerance of diversity - that makes sense?

Here is a brief answer: many schools aim for zero violence tolerance, and so far at least, I haven't heard of outraged protests - how can you dare to limit our freedom of self-expression, how dare you denigrate cultural diversity, including the diversity of sub-cultures that value violence?

What is a definition of tolerance that is healthy? Tolerance except when it creates or encourages harm. In other words, a definition of healthy tolerance needs to include what is outside the limits of tolerance. In the nineteenth century, John Stuart Mill, at a time when most people had very little freedom, did a lot of thinking and writing on freedom and healthy limits to freedom. Freedom: he wrote on freedom for women, for instance. In brief, the position he came to is: freedom until harm. When it came to offense, he was much more careful - as people can be offended (or claim offense) by just about anything. The offense had to be such that it created harm: incited violence, noise at a level that it kept people awake in the night, etc.

What is cultural diversity, by the way? It is just the reality that cultures are diverse, different from each other. It does not automatically mean that one is better than another. Nor does it automatically follow that all are equal in value - that a pro-slave culture is equal to one that upholds the equality of all people; that one which does nothing to stop extreme poverty is equal to one that does its best to ensure that all people in it have enough to live adequately (adequate food, shelter, health care, education).

A huge difficulty for many people who want to be tolerant in Western society is recognizing the reality of the inequality of cultures. Nazi culture - a blatant example. Stalinist Russia - another blatant example. The China of the Cultural Revolution. These are not equal to cultures where human rights are far more respected.

I answer: Dangerous to have such a person on a jury. One is required to judge: Did this person kill? What was the level of responsibility? And so on. I teach. Over and over, teachers need to make judgments. How good is this term paper, for instance? How well organized, well reasoned, etc.?

What is needed is well-thought-out standards for judgment, not a lack of judgment - including about culture, religion, diversity, tolerance.

Western society has gone from general intolerance and rigid barriers - against women, people not from some race or religion or sexual orientation - to one where tolerance and cultural diversity are revered. The intolerance and barriers depended on blocks to critical thinking and taking in evidence. All too often, this has not changed. The values are different - valuing cultural diversity and religious diversity instead of holding one culture and religion as superior to all the others - but the level of thinking has not changed.

Here's just one instance of imbecilic political correctness. A Canadian non-Muslim quoted a very right-wing Muslim imam - and a Canadian Muslim group charged him with Islamophobia. It would be nothing if the charge were sure to be laughed out of court, and if the Muslim group were sure to have to pay all legal costs for having launched a frivolous suit. But that's not the case.

Here's what does not make sense. The Canadian government agency which investigates charges of prejudice has never once judged that a complaint was unfounded, has never found one person or institution not guilty of a charge leveled against it. That makes no sense. It would mean that no one has ever launched even one unfounded or frivolous charge. Statistically, that is highly implausible.

How important is good rigorous critical thinking, the capacity to evaluate well what is coming in, to think logically, to spot logical fallacies?

My answer comes from the best overview I read on Islam. (What's the name of the book? I can't remember. One of our dogs chewed up the first copy. The second was lent to someone and did not return. But the book was brilliant.)

The answer comes from the author of the book. His big question: why has the Islamic world, after speeding ahead of the Christian world, in the past centuries lagged behind despite the many efforts on the part of Muslim leaders? His answer: with the Reformation, the West moved increasingly toward freedom of thought, and this (relative) freedom of thought is the basis of the West's radical rapid advance. Even before the Reformation, people like Copernicus and Galileo were moving toward a research-based model of knowledge. So while much was imported by the Islamic world from the West - technology, etc. - because the underlying difference remained, Islam has stayed behind the West.

If this author is right, then poor thinking is a major dangerous failing. All the more important for the West to look at areas where there are widespread pothole - even sinkholes - that threaten to break or swallow efforts at seeing and thinking clearly.

So, next come several explorations of current Western nuttiness, and also suggestions for how to remedy current Western widespread weaknesses.

The goal: to break the hold of some current Western blindnesses - which may be instances where, without realizing it, people are blinded by fear. The goal: Virginia Satir's. To see what is here, rather than what one wishes were here, what might be here, what may be here some day. To see what is here.

I start with a fundamental instance of widespread Western blindness, poor thinking, Stupid Opinion Number One - the opinion that all opinions are equal - and following from that, the opinion that all religions are equal, and that one must not judge anyone's opinion, religion, etc. This opinion sounds, to me, too ridiculous to mention - but as it's widely held - for example, by over 90% of the college students where I teach - it's a demon worth battling.

They stand high and mighty in both the Islamic world and much of the West. Long ago, the walls of Jericho came tumbling down. More recently the wall between East and West Germany was knocked down. Time for more tumbling and crumbling of walls.

- very different from the ingredients of political correctness. Good thinking - information and logic, not rules. The road to hell, I have heard, is paved with good intentions. Well, most likely there's no hell - but we can create hell on earth with good intentions that don't look at reality. Political correctness - a hotbed of good intentions. So easy to see what's rotten in the good intentions, the weaknesses - except that those who have seen and used the weaknesses most have not been the politically correct, but those with intentions of their own that have nothing to do with political correctness or tolerance or the milk of human kindness - and everything to do with getting their way by whatever means possible. Using the weakness of one's enemy - nothing is easier than that.

Breaking those spells, tough though it is, is not as hard as breaking the shell of dangerous religious opinions. For religious beliefs that say kill in the name of religion, die in the name of religion, confine in the name of religion, mutilate in the name of religion - those beliefs are held in place with masses of fear. It's frightening to question such a religion, and even more frightening to leave. Fear of retribution - physical retribution often, and also retribution from a wrathful punishing God.

And with that I say, enough of looking at the West, and I turn back to my exploration of Islam.

Here I am back to violating a widespread current Western taboo, in this case the stupid opinion that all religions are equal, and for many people, not only that but basically all the same. The opinion clearly makes no sense. For instance, a religion that requires human sacrifice would then be equal to, and basically the same as, one that is against human sacrifice; one that requires animal sacrifice would then be equal to one that is against animal sacrifice, etc.

The taboo blocks exploration. What is that religion like? What makes it tick? How does it work? What are its basic beliefs? For instance, in Christianity, a huge rebellion came centuries ago with Protestantism, where most branches are for an individual connection with god and each person reading the old religious texts. In the Muslim world, there is much more adherence to a top-down format, with people having obedience to religious authority drilled into them.

The West needs to look closely at what is happening, with Islam as with everything else. After all, research into other areas is valued - so why the widespread barriers against looking deeply at religions, including Islam.

Next: a closer look at Islam. Is it a religion of peace or not? That's a little mystery I do find good to clear up - because I am faced, over and over, with the claim that Islam is a religion of peace and the reality that many Muslims behave very non-peacefully, and the further reality that this violence elicits much less criticism than a small Danish cartoon.

CLICK HERE FOR ...
Is the Muslim Religion a Religion of Peace? -
GETTING INFORMATION ON ISLAM

Definition of Tolerance - Definition of Tolerance -
Definition of Tolerance
DEFINITION OF TOLERANCE

Definition of Tolerance. Question: What is Tolerance?
This relates to cultural diversity in America, the definition of cultural diversity.
So, what is cultural diversity, and what is tolerance?

Definition of Tolerance - Definition of Tolerance -
Definition of Tolerance
DEFINITION OF TOLERANCE

Virginia Satir - The Five Freedoms

The freedom to see and hear what is here,
instead of what should be, was, or will be.

The freedom to say what one feels and thinks,
instead of always asking for permission.

The freedom to feel what one feels,
instead of what one ought.

The freedom to ask for what one wants,
instead of always waiting for permission.

The freedom to take risks on one's own behalf,
instead of choosing to be only "secure" and not rocking the boat.

****

Any definition of tolerance needs to include conditions enabling the five freedoms.
Those people from the Muslim religion who pounce on those who vice opposition,
who are outraged at any expressions of dissent, who murder critics and anyone in the wrong place
at the wrong time, totally violate the five freedoms. This is far outside any definition of tolerance.

return to text

DEFINITION OF TOLERANCE, WHAT IS TOLERANCE,
CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN AMERICA,
DEFINITION OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY, WHAT IS CULTURAL DIVERSITY
THE BENEFITS OF CRITICAL THINKING, IMPORTANCE OF CRITICAL THINKING, STUPID OPINIONS,
WHAT IS CRITICAL THINKING - CRITICAL THINKING AS THE FOUNDATION OF THE WEST

DEFINITION OF TOLERANCE, WHAT IS TOLERANCE, CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN AMERICA,
DEFINITION OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY, WHAT IS CULTURAL DIVERSITY,
CULTURAL DIVERISTY TOPICS, DEFINE DIVERSITY, ARTICLES ON DIVERSITY,
MEANING OF DIVERSITY, DIVERSITY SKILLS, ARTICLE ON DIVERSITY,
DEFINITION OF TOLERANCE, DIVERSITY TOPICS, CULTURAL DIVERSITY ISSUES,
RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE, DEFINITION OF TOLERANCE, WHAT IS TOLERANCE,
DEFINIITON OF TOLERANCE, IMPORTANCE OF TOLERANCE, BENEFITS OF CRITICAL THINKING,
MUSLIM CARTOON, ARAB ANGER, ISLAM BELIEFS, ISLAM PEOPLE, ISLAM CULTURE
EUROPEAN RELIGIONS, DENMARK RELIGION, RELIGION IN GREAT BRITAIN,
MIDDLE EAST RELIGION, RELIGIOUS TERRORISM, RADICAL MUSLIMS.

DEFINITION OF TOLERANCE, WHAT IS TOLERANCE,
CULTURAL DIVERSITY TOPICS, DEFINE DIVERSITY, ARTICLES ON DIVERSITY,
THE BENEIFTS OF CRITICAL THINKING,
MIDDLE EAST RELIGION, PSYCHOLOGY OF VIOLENCE, RELIGIOUS TERRORISM,
HEALTHY PRIORITIES, CHANGE YOUR PRIORITIES, ORGANIZE PRIORITIES.

DEFINITION OF TOLERANCE, WHAT IS TOLERANCE, CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN AMERICA,
DEFINITION OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY, WHAT IS CULTURAL DIVERSITY,
CURRENT EVENTS MIDDLE EAST, MIDDLE EAST SOLUTION, MIDDLE EAST RELIGION,
TYPES OF RELIGION, COMPARISON OF RELIGIONS, RELIGOUS TERRORISM
COMPARE RELIGIONS, AND COMPARING RELIGION DARE TO COME TO CONCLUSIONS.

DEFINITION OF TOLERANCE, WHAT IS TOLERANCE,DEFINITION OF TOLERANCE
DEFINITION OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY, WHAT IS CULTURAL DIVERSITY,
DEFINE DIVERSITY, ARTICLES ON DIVERSITY,
HOW TO STOP TERRORISM, MIDDLE EAST RELIGIONS, ISLAM BASIC BELIEFS,
RADICAL MUSLIMS, ISLAM BELIEFS. ISLAM PEOPLE. ISLAM CULTURE.

DEFINITION OF TOLERANCE, WHAT IS TOLERANCE, CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN AMERICA,

Definition of Tolerance. Question: What is Tolerance?
Second Question: How to Stop Bad Thinking?

I am brimming with ideas, questions, thoughts.

And around me, most often I have come up against walls. One must be tolerant. One must not question religion. One must be accepting. I have slowly dragged myself out of the swamp of unthinking tolerance. It never felt right to be there. But it has taken a long time to put my ideas together.

I identified with Al Gore, in his journey in An Inconvenient Truth. He was trying to convey his truth for twenty years - his growing truth, his ever more inconvenient truth with the evidence mounting ever higher. What I admired most: he didn't give up. He kept working at saying his truth in an ever better, clearer way. No one would have faulted him for giving up, faced with the dragon of a presidential campaign scuttled by someone from the left as well as a stupid crook on the right - stupid but very powerful and with powerful friends and family. But he did not give up. And now there it is, An Inconvenient Truth, for all to see.

Of course he hasn't been alone in what he's been seeing - and likewise I'm not alone.

So what have I seen, and what am I trying to convey?

I'm trying to convey what seems to be a good route in the quest to figure out how to stop terrorism. Here's some of what I look at:

DEFINITION OF TOLERANCE. WHAT IS TOLERANCE.

The West's insistence, these days, on tolerance is just an dangerous as its previously generally closed mind to the equality of women and men, of people of all races and sexual orientations. It has just taken its generally closed mind and, having let in a few truths, kept parts of its mind as closed as ever. Rigidly closed. That's not just stupid but dangerous.

HISTORY OF MUSLIM RELIGION. RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE. RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE.

I'm not great at going out and getting facts. I am good at mulling over the facts that do come my way. So one fact that hit me in the face was that there was huge Muslim outrage over a small Danish cartoon but no huge Muslim outrage over Muslim murder of others (mainly Muslims, at that), over massive amounts of genital mutilation, etc. Instead of outrage at millions of mutilations, over and over I heard that Westerners had no right to pass judgment over other cultures. Strangely, that argument was not used to say we had no right to judge Communist repression, Nazi horrors. Once again, that made no sense. I was not given any grounds, by the way, as to why I should be selectively blind, selectively able to evaluate information (Communism - good to judge; Islam - bad to judge).

Though the disproportionate outrage over one cartoon was enough of a fact for me to see that something very wrong was going on, it makes sense to do much more exploring of facts - such as on the history of the Muslim religion.

I do pay attention to facts. My bigger pleasure, though, is thinking about them, puzzling things out.

So a tiny fact - the unwarranted tempest about a cartoon - was enough to set me off on an exploration of a religion, of ways of thinking, manipulations of reality, a slow danger.

I have explored most fully my home culture - the West - because it is much of that culture which has stayed silent, as if paralyzed by its rhetoric of tolerance and acceptance, as if trapped in a poisonous web - so that the ideology of tolerance and acceptance, instead of freeing and opening minds, has been used - not only to not think - but to attempt to shut up people, like myself, ready and eager to explore - rather like Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark, managing to get out of even a pit of writhing snakes. Here the snakes hiss, you must not be judgmental, you have not right to judge another religion, who are you to know, all opinions are equal, every religion is equal.

Not easy, when one does not want to intone accepted doctrines.

THE IDEA EMPORIUM with DEFINITION OF TOLERANCE and much more

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Definition of Tolerance. Question: What is Tolerance? This relates to cultural diversity in America, the definition of cultural diversity. So, what is cultural diversity, and what is tolerance?
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	REGISTER FOR UPDATES WELCOME THE IDEA EMPORIUM - FULL MENU - explorations on ANIMAL RIGHTS, AN INNER VOICE, GAMBLING IMPULSE, STUPID OPINIONS, RELIGIOUS RAGE, GOOD THINKING, and more - MENU - The West and Islam WESTERN TOLERANCE AND ISLAM seen through my curious eyes MY JOURNEY from one question to the next THE EXPLORATIONS ** - MENU - The West and Islam MY JOURNEY from the start to the present MANY JOURNEYScoming to our understanding of Islam Steps & Stages Muslims, a Danish Cartoon, and Me ... The Exploration Continues Muslim Outrage meets Western Political Correctness - toxic Western tolerance Western Blocks - The Enemy Within tolerance of intolerance, lack of critical thinking - a veneer for fear? The Muslim Religion - A Religion of Peace? Exploration of Evidence - and a question: why the insistence, among the evidence of Muslim violence and the lack of general censure of the violence The Role of Muslim Moderates Muslims for peace, Muslims against terrorism - call to action Still More Explorations The Rottweiler Pope, A Dangerous Temptation, and more An Ongoing Barrier - Fear a core part of terrorism The Hope Give Peace a Chance What Do I Want? - Perception, Critical Thinking, and ...? and a core quality - easily blocked in humans Overview - All the Steps, Stages, Idea Pieces THE EXPLORATIONS Explorations - starting with a look at anger The Rage of the "Righteous" on Muslim outrage at a Danish cartoon Feb/July 2006 MORE Mirror, Mirror, Who is that Horror? on the rage of the righteous when coming across mirrors Sept 2006 MORE ALL Political Correctness and Fundamentalism Jan 2008 MORE ALL More Explorations - Western tolerance and other blocks to good thinking Stupid Opinion #1 the opinion that all opinions are equal Aug 2006 MORE Walls in the Mind, They Cripple and Bind inner walls, inner blocks - invisible from within, frustrating for outsiders Jan 2007 MORE ALL How To Think - Tip Number One - Ask This One Question Apr 2007 MORE ALL The Ingredients of Good Thinking Feb 2009 ALL Breaking the Spell of Stupid Opinions rule #1 - don't start by calling it a stupid opinion Aug 2006 MORE Urgently Needed Information Is Islam a Religion of Peace? Muslims, Islam, Koran, Reality March 2008 ALL More Thinking re Islam, Muslim Moderates, and more The Pope Speaks outraged Muslims protest, kill nun, demand apology Sept 2006 MORE ALL The Rottweiler Pope, The Danish Cartoon and Muslim Moderates the pope's remarks - help or hindrance? Sept 2006 MORE ALL A Dangerous Temptation - Counter-Prejudice the lure of hating back and hurting back Sept 2006 MORE ALL The Hope Give Peace a Chance - by giving empathy a chance An Open Letter to All People, and for now, especially all Muslims - Feb/Aug 2006 MORE ALL About the Explorer Elsa's Quest: to explore Elsa Asks a Final Question: What is Islamophobia? This Is Not Me but it's a tempting disguise due to the "righteous" MORE ** ~ more ~ - FULL MENU - top of page DEFINITION OF TOLERANCE. WHAT IS TOLERANCE? CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN AMERICA. DEFINITION OF TOLERANCE. WHAT IS TOLERANCE? DEFINITION OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY. WHAT IS CULTURAL DIVERSITY? contact top of page MEDIA AND TERRORISM BENEFITS OF CRITICAL THINKING contact top of page DEFINITION OF TOLERANCE. WHAT IS TOLERANCE? CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN AMERICA. ARTICLES ON DIVERSITY. MEANING OF DIVERSITY. DIVERSITY SKILLS. Opt-in for Updates NEWSLETTER	The Idea Emporium
			Definition of Tolerance. Question: What is Tolerance? This relates to cultural diversity in America, the definition of cultural diversity. So, what is cultural diversity, and what is tolerance? More specifically, what is a healthy definition of tolerance? Many schools aim for zero violence tolerance. In other words, some things are outside what is to be tolerated. So, what is bigotry, what is prejudice, and what are healthy limits to tolerance? Here: the emphasis is on the benefits of critical thinking.
		Definition of Tolerance. What is Tolerance? Definition of Tolerance. What is Tolerance?
			WESTERN TOLERANCE and ISLAM seen through my curious eyes ___________ Western Mental Blocks, All Opinions are Equal ... and Me BATTLING MORE DEMONS, NOW ON THE WESTERN FRONT - definition of tolerance, of being judgmental and more here - Stupid Opinion Number One Meets Elsa, Walls in the Mind, How to Think - Tip Number one, The Ingredients of Good Thinking, Breaking the Spell of Stupid Opinions It was one small boy who noticed the leak in the dike and averted calamity long ago, plugged the leak until help could come. Lots of people have been noticing this time around, hearing Muslim protests that prejudice and bigotry are destroying what is supposed to be a tolerant society. But - like with climate change - far too many people have not had the eyes to see the obvious. I would not be writing abut disproportionate Muslim rage if it were widely seen. instead, over and over, I've heard, "Oh those poor Muslims. No wonder they're offended." And from Muslims, with even more vehemence, "How dare someone offend our religion? It's our right to have our religion respected." I don't want to be like that little boy, blocking the water from coming in, keeping things as they are. In this case, a lot of effort is going into keeping knowledge out. I get images of super heroes battling away - Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman. Over and over the villains keep coming. It's almost always easy to spot the bad guys. But what if they're masked? What if the exterior shows someone nice? And even harder, what if inside there is no villain - but something that may be equally dangerous - a nice person who isn't good at seeing. ** Instead of just looking at Muslim outrage, I've been bashing away, hacking away, at Western barriers - such as the barrier of denial. Virginia Satir wrote of 5 fundamental freedoms. One is the freedom to see what is here - not what was, should be, could be, will be, might be. A powerful message from much of Islam has been: we are enraged if you criticize, and we refuse to change. That message has been met with enormous compliance from the Wes: all religions are equal, you have the full right to be offended, not to think, not to be shown as you are. So for the West, there is no freedom to see and explore. Instead the wall of "we must accept difference diversity difference otherness difference." One can only do that, with no limits, if one builds barricades against seeing, thinking, exploring. I feel a little like the suitors trying to get past the wall of thorns keeping them away from Sleeping Beauty. But there's a big difference. Sleeping Beauty was safe. Imagine Sleeping Beauty ever more in danger while in her deep sleep. I think of Chamberlain, the British prime minister in the first years of Hitler's rule in Germany. His policy: appeasement. He let Hitler get away with whatever Hitler wanted to do. He gave Hitler time to build, to strengthen. The current widespread Western taboo on thinking, exploring and seeing is a dangerous taboo. Women taking self-defense courses are taught: listen to yourself, listen to signals of danger - because so often, women have learned to be nice and not want to hurt someone's feelings, like the feelings of someone following them. Instead many risk rape. The West, I would say, is equally running enormous risks. Important question: what is tolerance? What is a definition of tolerance - especially a definition of tolerance of diversity - that makes sense? Here is a brief answer: many schools aim for zero violence tolerance, and so far at least, I haven't heard of outraged protests - how can you dare to limit our freedom of self-expression, how dare you denigrate cultural diversity, including the diversity of sub-cultures that value violence? What is a definition of tolerance that is healthy? Tolerance except when it creates or encourages harm. In other words, a definition of healthy tolerance needs to include what is outside the limits of tolerance. In the nineteenth century, John Stuart Mill, at a time when most people had very little freedom, did a lot of thinking and writing on freedom and healthy limits to freedom. Freedom: he wrote on freedom for women, for instance. In brief, the position he came to is: freedom until harm. When it came to offense, he was much more careful - as people can be offended (or claim offense) by just about anything. The offense had to be such that it created harm: incited violence, noise at a level that it kept people awake in the night, etc. What is cultural diversity, by the way? It is just the reality that cultures are diverse, different from each other. It does not automatically mean that one is better than another. Nor does it automatically follow that all are equal in value - that a pro-slave culture is equal to one that upholds the equality of all people; that one which does nothing to stop extreme poverty is equal to one that does its best to ensure that all people in it have enough to live adequately (adequate food, shelter, health care, education). A huge difficulty for many people who want to be tolerant in Western society is recognizing the reality of the inequality of cultures. Nazi culture - a blatant example. Stalinist Russia - another blatant example. The China of the Cultural Revolution. These are not equal to cultures where human rights are far more respected. "It's wrong to be judgmental," comes the cry. I answer: Dangerous to have such a person on a jury. One is required to judge: Did this person kill? What was the level of responsibility? And so on. I teach. Over and over, teachers need to make judgments. How good is this term paper, for instance? How well organized, well reasoned, etc.? What is needed is well-thought-out standards for judgment, not a lack of judgment - including about culture, religion, diversity, tolerance. Western society has gone from general intolerance and rigid barriers - against women, people not from some race or religion or sexual orientation - to one where tolerance and cultural diversity are revered. The intolerance and barriers depended on blocks to critical thinking and taking in evidence. All too often, this has not changed. The values are different - valuing cultural diversity and religious diversity instead of holding one culture and religion as superior to all the others - but the level of thinking has not changed. Here's just one instance of imbecilic political correctness. A Canadian non-Muslim quoted a very right-wing Muslim imam - and a Canadian Muslim group charged him with Islamophobia. It would be nothing if the charge were sure to be laughed out of court, and if the Muslim group were sure to have to pay all legal costs for having launched a frivolous suit. But that's not the case. Here's what does not make sense. The Canadian government agency which investigates charges of prejudice has never once judged that a complaint was unfounded, has never found one person or institution not guilty of a charge leveled against it. That makes no sense. It would mean that no one has ever launched even one unfounded or frivolous charge. Statistically, that is highly implausible. How important is good rigorous critical thinking, the capacity to evaluate well what is coming in, to think logically, to spot logical fallacies? My answer comes from the best overview I read on Islam. (What's the name of the book? I can't remember. One of our dogs chewed up the first copy. The second was lent to someone and did not return. But the book was brilliant.) The answer comes from the author of the book. His big question: why has the Islamic world, after speeding ahead of the Christian world, in the past centuries lagged behind despite the many efforts on the part of Muslim leaders? His answer: with the Reformation, the West moved increasingly toward freedom of thought, and this (relative) freedom of thought is the basis of the West's radical rapid advance. Even before the Reformation, people like Copernicus and Galileo were moving toward a research-based model of knowledge. So while much was imported by the Islamic world from the West - technology, etc. - because the underlying difference remained, Islam has stayed behind the West. If this author is right, then poor thinking is a major dangerous failing. All the more important for the West to look at areas where there are widespread pothole - even sinkholes - that threaten to break or swallow efforts at seeing and thinking clearly. So, next come several explorations of current Western nuttiness, and also suggestions for how to remedy current Western widespread weaknesses. The goal: to break the hold of some current Western blindnesses - which may be instances where, without realizing it, people are blinded by fear. The goal: Virginia Satir's. To see what is here, rather than what one wishes were here, what might be here, what may be here some day. To see what is here. I start with a fundamental instance of widespread Western blindness, poor thinking, Stupid Opinion Number One - the opinion that all opinions are equal - and following from that, the opinion that all religions are equal, and that one must not judge anyone's opinion, religion, etc. This opinion sounds, to me, too ridiculous to mention - but as it's widely held - for example, by over 90% of the college students where I teach - it's a demon worth battling. Here, stupid opinion number one meets Elsa. Next. Walls in the Mind. They stand high and mighty in both the Islamic world and much of the West. Long ago, the walls of Jericho came tumbling down. More recently the wall between East and West Germany was knocked down. Time for more tumbling and crumbling of walls. How break those walls? Go and read ... How to Think - Tip Number one: Ask This One Question Then, here are The Ingredients of Good Thinking - very different from the ingredients of political correctness. Good thinking - information and logic, not rules. The road to hell, I have heard, is paved with good intentions. Well, most likely there's no hell - but we can create hell on earth with good intentions that don't look at reality. Political correctness - a hotbed of good intentions. So easy to see what's rotten in the good intentions, the weaknesses - except that those who have seen and used the weaknesses most have not been the politically correct, but those with intentions of their own that have nothing to do with political correctness or tolerance or the milk of human kindness - and everything to do with getting their way by whatever means possible. Using the weakness of one's enemy - nothing is easier than that. My goal: Breaking the Spell of Stupid Opinions. Breaking those spells, tough though it is, is not as hard as breaking the shell of dangerous religious opinions. For religious beliefs that say kill in the name of religion, die in the name of religion, confine in the name of religion, mutilate in the name of religion - those beliefs are held in place with masses of fear. It's frightening to question such a religion, and even more frightening to leave. Fear of retribution - physical retribution often, and also retribution from a wrathful punishing God. And with that I say, enough of looking at the West, and I turn back to my exploration of Islam. Here I am back to violating a widespread current Western taboo, in this case the stupid opinion that all religions are equal, and for many people, not only that but basically all the same. The opinion clearly makes no sense. For instance, a religion that requires human sacrifice would then be equal to, and basically the same as, one that is against human sacrifice; one that requires animal sacrifice would then be equal to one that is against animal sacrifice, etc. The taboo blocks exploration. What is that religion like? What makes it tick? How does it work? What are its basic beliefs? For instance, in Christianity, a huge rebellion came centuries ago with Protestantism, where most branches are for an individual connection with god and each person reading the old religious texts. In the Muslim world, there is much more adherence to a top-down format, with people having obedience to religious authority drilled into them. The West needs to look closely at what is happening, with Islam as with everything else. After all, research into other areas is valued - so why the widespread barriers against looking deeply at religions, including Islam. Next: a closer look at Islam. Is it a religion of peace or not? That's a little mystery I do find good to clear up - because I am faced, over and over, with the claim that Islam is a religion of peace and the reality that many Muslims behave very non-peacefully, and the further reality that this violence elicits much less criticism than a small Danish cartoon. So, is Islam a religion of peace? CLICK HERE FOR ... Is the Muslim Religion a Religion of Peace? - GETTING INFORMATION ON ISLAM CLICK HERE FOR ... Stupid Opinion # One - that All Opinions are Equal definition of tolerance CLICK HERE FOR ... Walls in the Mind articles on terrorism, how to stop terrorism middle east religions, definition of tolerance CLICK HERE FOR ... How to Think - Tip Number one: Ask This One Question definition of tolerance CLICK HERE FOR ... The Ingredients of Good Thinking definition of tolerance CLICK HERE FOR ... Breaking the Spell of Stupid Opinions definition of tolerance Welcome to the ongoing exploration. signed, Elsa March 30, 2008 copyright Elsa Schieder, 2008, 2011, all rights reserved Click here to go to the first of the articles linked with this exploration of the definition of tolerance, The Rage of the "Righteous". Click here to go to another article linked with this exploration of the definition of tolerance, Mirror Mirror on the Wall, Who Is That Horror in the Hall? Click here to go to an overview of all the pieces. Definition of Tolerance - Definition of Tolerance - Definition of Tolerance DEFINITION OF TOLERANCE Definition of Tolerance. Question: What is Tolerance? This relates to cultural diversity in America, the definition of cultural diversity. So, what is cultural diversity, and what is tolerance? Definition of Tolerance - Definition of Tolerance - Definition of Tolerance DEFINITION OF TOLERANCE top of page Virginia Satir - The Five Freedoms The freedom to see and hear what is here, instead of what should be, was, or will be. The freedom to say what one feels and thinks, instead of always asking for permission. The freedom to feel what one feels, instead of what one ought. The freedom to ask for what one wants, instead of always waiting for permission. The freedom to take risks on one's own behalf, instead of choosing to be only "secure" and not rocking the boat. Any definition of tolerance needs to include conditions enabling the five freedoms. Those people from the Muslim religion who pounce on those who vice opposition, who are outraged at any expressions of dissent, who murder critics and anyone in the wrong place at the wrong time, totally violate the five freedoms. This is far outside any definition of tolerance. return to text DEFINITION OF TOLERANCE, WHAT IS TOLERANCE, CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN AMERICA, DEFINITION OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY, WHAT IS CULTURAL DIVERSITY THE BENEFITS OF CRITICAL THINKING, IMPORTANCE OF CRITICAL THINKING, STUPID OPINIONS, WHAT IS CRITICAL THINKING - CRITICAL THINKING AS THE FOUNDATION OF THE WEST DEFINITION OF TOLERANCE, WHAT IS TOLERANCE, CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN AMERICA, DEFINITION OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY, WHAT IS CULTURAL DIVERSITY, CULTURAL DIVERISTY TOPICS, DEFINE DIVERSITY, ARTICLES ON DIVERSITY, MEANING OF DIVERSITY, DIVERSITY SKILLS, ARTICLE ON DIVERSITY, DEFINITION OF TOLERANCE, DIVERSITY TOPICS, CULTURAL DIVERSITY ISSUES, RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE, DEFINITION OF TOLERANCE, WHAT IS TOLERANCE, DEFINIITON OF TOLERANCE, IMPORTANCE OF TOLERANCE, BENEFITS OF CRITICAL THINKING, MUSLIM CARTOON, ARAB ANGER, ISLAM BELIEFS, ISLAM PEOPLE, ISLAM CULTURE EUROPEAN RELIGIONS, DENMARK RELIGION, RELIGION IN GREAT BRITAIN, MIDDLE EAST RELIGION, RELIGIOUS TERRORISM, RADICAL MUSLIMS. DEFINITION OF TOLERANCE, WHAT IS TOLERANCE, CULTURAL DIVERSITY TOPICS, DEFINE DIVERSITY, ARTICLES ON DIVERSITY, THE BENEIFTS OF CRITICAL THINKING, MIDDLE EAST RELIGION, PSYCHOLOGY OF VIOLENCE, RELIGIOUS TERRORISM, HEALTHY PRIORITIES, CHANGE YOUR PRIORITIES, ORGANIZE PRIORITIES. DEFINITION OF TOLERANCE, WHAT IS TOLERANCE, CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN AMERICA, DEFINITION OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY, WHAT IS CULTURAL DIVERSITY, CURRENT EVENTS MIDDLE EAST, MIDDLE EAST SOLUTION, MIDDLE EAST RELIGION, TYPES OF RELIGION, COMPARISON OF RELIGIONS, RELIGOUS TERRORISM COMPARE RELIGIONS, AND COMPARING RELIGION DARE TO COME TO CONCLUSIONS. DEFINITION OF TOLERANCE, WHAT IS TOLERANCE,DEFINITION OF TOLERANCE DEFINITION OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY, WHAT IS CULTURAL DIVERSITY, DEFINE DIVERSITY, ARTICLES ON DIVERSITY, HOW TO STOP TERRORISM, MIDDLE EAST RELIGIONS, ISLAM BASIC BELIEFS, RADICAL MUSLIMS, ISLAM BELIEFS. ISLAM PEOPLE. ISLAM CULTURE. DEFINITION OF TOLERANCE, WHAT IS TOLERANCE, CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN AMERICA, Definition of Tolerance. Question: What is Tolerance? Second Question: How to Stop Bad Thinking? I am brimming with ideas, questions, thoughts. And around me, most often I have come up against walls. One must be tolerant. One must not question religion. One must be accepting. I have slowly dragged myself out of the swamp of unthinking tolerance. It never felt right to be there. But it has taken a long time to put my ideas together. I identified with Al Gore, in his journey in An Inconvenient Truth. He was trying to convey his truth for twenty years - his growing truth, his ever more inconvenient truth with the evidence mounting ever higher. What I admired most: he didn't give up. He kept working at saying his truth in an ever better, clearer way. No one would have faulted him for giving up, faced with the dragon of a presidential campaign scuttled by someone from the left as well as a stupid crook on the right - stupid but very powerful and with powerful friends and family. But he did not give up. And now there it is, An Inconvenient Truth, for all to see. Of course he hasn't been alone in what he's been seeing - and likewise I'm not alone. So what have I seen, and what am I trying to convey? I'm trying to convey what seems to be a good route in the quest to figure out how to stop terrorism. Here's some of what I look at: DEFINITION OF TOLERANCE. WHAT IS TOLERANCE. The West's insistence, these days, on tolerance is just an dangerous as its previously generally closed mind to the equality of women and men, of people of all races and sexual orientations. It has just taken its generally closed mind and, having let in a few truths, kept parts of its mind as closed as ever. Rigidly closed. That's not just stupid but dangerous. HISTORY OF MUSLIM RELIGION. RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE. RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE. I'm not great at going out and getting facts. I am good at mulling over the facts that do come my way. So one fact that hit me in the face was that there was huge Muslim outrage over a small Danish cartoon but no huge Muslim outrage over Muslim murder of others (mainly Muslims, at that), over massive amounts of genital mutilation, etc. Instead of outrage at millions of mutilations, over and over I heard that Westerners had no right to pass judgment over other cultures. Strangely, that argument was not used to say we had no right to judge Communist repression, Nazi horrors. Once again, that made no sense. I was not given any grounds, by the way, as to why I should be selectively blind, selectively able to evaluate information (Communism - good to judge; Islam - bad to judge). Though the disproportionate outrage over one cartoon was enough of a fact for me to see that something very wrong was going on, it makes sense to do much more exploring of facts - such as on the history of the Muslim religion. I do pay attention to facts. My bigger pleasure, though, is thinking about them, puzzling things out. So a tiny fact - the unwarranted tempest about a cartoon - was enough to set me off on an exploration of a religion, of ways of thinking, manipulations of reality, a slow danger. I have explored most fully my home culture - the West - because it is much of that culture which has stayed silent, as if paralyzed by its rhetoric of tolerance and acceptance, as if trapped in a poisonous web - so that the ideology of tolerance and acceptance, instead of freeing and opening minds, has been used - not only to not think - but to attempt to shut up people, like myself, ready and eager to explore - rather like Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark, managing to get out of even a pit of writhing snakes. Here the snakes hiss, you must not be judgmental, you have not right to judge another religion, who are you to know, all opinions are equal, every religion is equal. Not easy, when one does not want to intone accepted doctrines. Elsa, brain trainer always looking with ideas cooking March 24, 2008 copyright © Elsa Schieder 2008, 2011, all rights reserved publishing house - FlufferDuff Impressions 2008, 2011 THE IDEA EMPORIUM with DEFINITION OF TOLERANCE and much more MORE ... Register for FREE updates. Why register? Click here for 3 good reasons. top of page THE IDEA EMPORIUM A CELEBRATION OF GOOD THINKING THE IDEA EMPORIUM NO HOLDS BARRED THINKING THE IDEA EMPORIUM LOOK AT ANYTHING, ASK ANYTHING LOOK ANYWHERE PLUS, LOOK AT THE JOURNEY "It is a fact readily acknowledged, that for humans, an idea is much more powerful than a fact." WHEN I HEARD THAT, I HAD A EUREKA MOMENT. YES, I HAD SEEN THAT SO OFTEN. SOME OF US ALREADY LOVE GOOD THINKING. BUT GOOD THINKING IS POSSIBLE FOR ALMOST ALL OF US, JUST LIKE EVEN A COUCH POTATO CAN GET INTO SHAPE! SO, FOR THE THINKERS AND THE POTENTIAL THINKERS CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE** FREE UPDATES Elsa's Adventures in Internet Land ______________________________________________________________ home about site map privacy policy terms of use contact ______________________________________________________________ design, site construction - Elsa Schieder copyright © Elsa Schieder, 2006-2012 - all rights reserved copyright © elsas-word-story-image-idea-music-emporium.com, 2006-2012 - all rights reserved CLICK HERE TO CONTACT Elsa ______________________________________________________________

Definition of Tolerance. Question: What is Tolerance? This relates to cultural diversity in America, the definition of cultural diversity. So, what is cultural diversity, and what is tolerance?

Definition of Tolerance. Question: What is Tolerance? Second Question: How to Stop Bad Thinking?

DEFINITION OF TOLERANCE. WHAT IS TOLERANCE.

HISTORY OF MUSLIM RELIGION. RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE. RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE.

Definition of Tolerance. Question: What is Tolerance?
This relates to cultural diversity in America, the definition of cultural diversity.
So, what is cultural diversity, and what is tolerance?

Definition of Tolerance. Question: What is Tolerance?
Second Question: How to Stop Bad Thinking?