Every responsible parent attempts to raise children who tolerate the quirks and foibles of others. We all hope and pray that our kids will not turn into bullies or attempt to move through life by intimidation; but that our offspring will try to help others and generally become responsible citizens of our wonderful country.

Being tolerant becomes a good attitude for children, families, and society because tolerance is the lubricant of daily life. It allows someone in a hurry because they have a crying baby to move to the head of the line. It is understanding that a clerk is trying to help everyone all at once, but might need a little more time to finish the job. It is also realizing that no one passes through this life unscathed. If we take the time, we will find that pretty much everyone around us has some sad tale to tell, if we would only listen. Being tolerant means weighing the possibility of another’s problems into the equation before jumping to unwarranted conclusions and assuming that the other person is just being a jerk.

However, tolerance itself has been abused. It is tolerant to understand that someone might need a helping hand more than you. It is intolerant to assume that someone “gets” that helping hand merely because they are a minority or because they “deserve” it, according to their own estimation. The justification for promoting affirmative action was originally a means to remove invisible barriers and allow all citizens to have a fair shot in business, education, and Life, in general. It was to allow everyone the “pursuit” of happiness, not a guarantee that our tax dollars would pave the way for them! Now, though, affirmative action is being used to excuse every form of discrimination. Madtown, for example, is saying that it will no longer give our top students entrance, just because they are good students! Isn’t UW-Madison supposed to be an institution of higher learning where we promote academics? How do you justify giving more weight to someone’s color, or ethnicity, over another student’s scholarly attributes? This is NOT tolerance! It is rank discrimination, but because the students who suffer from this policy are not a minority, the University plows ahead. I am ashamed of my alma mater for bowing to political correctness and for not attempting to lure the best and brightest minds to our state!

I believe that our political system promotes this kind of blatant discrimination because almost all politicians are ultimately using our tax dollars to buy voters. It is easy to secure some votes merely by legislating benefits for a minority. Illegal immigration is an example of corrupting the notion of tolerance into a system that treats our immigrants unfairly. By definition, illegal immigration means that these people are breaking our law. They should be required to follow all the requirements of immigration, and not be forgiven simply because they can sneak across our borders, whether northern or southern. It is not tolerance to allow this. It is a buying of votes with our tax dollars.

Tolerance and discrimination are at opposite ends of the spectrum. We should not confuse the two. Tolerance is our adjusting to Life as we pass through and our attempt to smooth out the rough edges of Life so that everyone has a fair chance. Discrimination is an attempt to leverage a benefit for someone who has not earned that benefit. Tolerance serves all of us well. Discrimination creates anger. In our world today, which do you think serves all of us better?

From : The Mom Team