Voltaire (Image via Wikipedia)"Tolerance" is the "fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward opinions and practices that differ from one's own". It is not equivalent to "acquiescence", which is "agreement or consent by silence or without objection". One can be tolerant of another's opinions and/or practices without simultaneously acquiescing to or agreeing with those same opinions and/or practices. These two attitudes are neither mutually inclusive nor mutually exclusive. It is logically wrong to conflate these attitudinal concepts.
The famous quote often attributed to Voltaire (but actually first used by Evelyn Beatrice Hall), "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it" is a perfect example of disapproval of an opinion but the utmost tolerance for the right to express it.
In like manner, I, along with a 68% majority of Americans disapprove of the intent to build a mosque near Ground Zero, but concede the legal right to build it. A minority of Americans are all bent out of shape, claiming that disapproval of the intent is tantamount to intolerance of the right. These people either willfully or ignorantly fail to recognize the irony in their accusations, for it is they, in fact, who are intolerant of their opponents' objections.
Post 1,390 On Tolerance
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