Acceptance and tolerance are not the same thing. An issue with today’s society is that many people think that tolerance is good enough. It’s not.

        It is a difficult subject to grapple with. With most people on the planet their ways of thinking are most influenced by their parents or by those who raise them. Even that itself can be difficult for some to accept. “No way am I like my Mom (or Dad)” Yet as time goes by many end up realizing, much to their chagrin that they are indeed very much like their parents in many aspects.

        This is demonstrated by the cycle of child abuse that is all too visible today. And by “all too visible” I don’t mean it should be hidden, but that it is apparent. The abuse has probably always been there, just kept tucked away. Sort of like homosexuality. This gets back to the tolerance versus acceptance issue which is the main thrust of this article. Years ago if an interracial couple was seen in public, likely a lynching would follow. (At least in certain areas of the country – think of the movie Mr. and Mrs. Loving)

        With the passage of time interracial marriage has become tolerated in certain parts of the country, accepted in others and, sadly enough, still cause for violence in others.

        In today’s world the new prejudice seems to be religious intolerance. People of a general peaceful nature, such as Buddhists or Wiccans are viewed as odd or in the case of Wiccans, Satanic. Muslims are looked upon with distrust and thinly veiled hatred, although most Muslims the world over view terrorism with the same revulsion as the rest of the world.

        It is time, to quote John Lennon, to “Give peace a chance.” There seemed to be a movement in that direction during the sixties yet strangely enough some of that generation seem to be the least tolerant and are dividing the country like few times in our nation’s history.

        Practice tolerance if that is the best you can do, but please, for the sake of the future, aim for acceptance and teach your children well.