Truth and Tolerance

by melonakos on September 25, 2011

in Current Events,Life,Religion

Two weeks ago, during the remembrance of the 9-11 attacks 10 years ago, a leader in my church gave a thoughtful talk on the interplay of truth and tolerance.  It struck a nerve with me as it addressed a very difficult subject in a tactful way.

I encourage you to view or watch the full talk yourself, online.

Elder Oaks giving talk on 9-11-11

The backdrop for the discussion is how the western world increasingly drops its traditional moorings in absolute truth for less certain relative morality.  Evidence is presented for this in the recent “widespread rioting and pillaging in Britain and the scandalous widespread cheating by teachers on state-mandated tests in elementary and middle schools in Atlanta, Georgia [which] have caused many to wonder whether we are losing the moral foundation western countries have received from their Judeo-Christian heritage.”

With this backdrop, we who believe in God and the absolute truth of right and wrong have increasing challenges in the growing godless and amoral world.  As we stick to our moorings, some in the world cast our behavior as intolerant.  This is especially disturbing to the vast majority of believers who have as their highest goal the emulation of a virtuous Christ-like life, turning the other cheek, sharing of their substance with the poor, and lifting up the downtrodden.

“The weaker one’s belief in God and the fewer one’s moral absolutes, the fewer the occasions when the ideas or practices of others will confront one with the challenge to be tolerant.  For example, an atheist has no need to decide what kinds and occasions of profanity or blasphemy can be tolerated and what kinds should be confronted.  Persons who don’t believe in God or in absolute truth in moral matters can see themselves as the most tolerant of persons.  For them, almost anything goes.  ‘You do your thing and I’ll do my thing’ is the popular description.  This belief system can tolerate almost any behavior and almost any persons.  Unfortunately, some who believe in moral relativism seem to have difficulty tolerating those who insist that there is a God who should be respected and certain moral absolutes that should be observed.”

And so, the situation comes full-circle, with conflict between absolute and relative systems of truth and the need for increased tolerance all round.

How do you see the interplay of truth and tolerance in your experiences?

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Lukasz-Miroslaw/100000922637124 Lukasz Miroslaw

    I am glad not to be the only one who thinks in a similar way. Indeed, we are loosing our morality as a society and nobody seems to be worried about that except minor discussions among people or in the Christian gathering (I may be wrong of course).  The problem is that those who influence the ordinary people are united and powerful. They are gathered in left-winged organizations funded by the government or they are supported by the media.
    People are simply not aware about the thread of being careless. The new generation is coming to the conclusion that if we do not care then why should they? IMHO, we should do something about it. The question is “what”?
    I have thought about it with my collegues here in Poland and do not see a gold solution except forming an informal community. Once people are aware of not being lonely they could something about it.

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for the comment.  My approach rests on the assumption that the most important work I can do is within the walls of my own home.  Raising a strong, virtuous family will have a greater impact for good than anything else I can contemplate.  An essential component of raising a good family is teaching service within the community.  While my family is still very young, it is my experience that as a family serves its community, others take note and it rubs off.

    Other more organized approaches are also very important.  For my family, it is through our church that we enjoy this.

  • Lukasz Miroslaw

    I fully agree. The family is the priority. I know this sentence: “If God is in the first place everything else is in the right place”. That actually works. Me and my wife are active in so called “Light-Life” movement (Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light-Life) which gathers families together. 4-7 families meet each month in one of the houses. Kids are playing around and the parents are having a chat with some cakes and salats. Afterwards, we pray together and read the bible. And then we chat again :) There are also so called gifts that everybody tries to implement in their daily life such as prayers with the whole family, a prayer with your wife, a prayer in solitary. There is also a gift called “a dialogue” where you talk with your wife once a month for 2-3 hours with a candle and a prayer to the Holy Spirit. Jesus is of course invited as well. After a prayer you discuss all the problems that bother you, i.e. about your kids, or about relations between both of you. This is the finest gift for the marriage as usually you do not have time to talk when two small kids are around.
    I wonder how your community looks like. BTW, is this a part of protestant or catholic church?

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for the comment.  I like the emphasis on getting priorities straight, with deference to God and focus on family.  Family prayer, scripture reading, and moments of thoughtful reflection and dialog with family members are all important and heavily emphasized in the Mormon community too, http://mormon.org/family/.

    To learn more about my faith, you can click around the link above.  The official name of the church is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  While we very much respect all the good that protestant and catholic churches do, we believe in the restoration of important truths and are therefore distinct in our religion, http://mormon.org/restoration/.

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