When Tolerance Trumps Principle

We scratch our heads and wonder, "How did we get to this point?"

Tolerance requires that we ignore "the law of non-contradiction." The online Stanford University Encyclopedia of Philosophy explains that "opposite assertions cannot be true at the same time" and suggests that Aristotle believed that "the principle of non-contradiction [is] a principle of scientific inquiry, reasoning, and communication that we cannot do without."

In a world of social and political tolerance, we do not inquire, we do not reason, we do not communicate...we do not respect...we tolerate.

By definition, [unbridled] tolerance renders us impotent.

Requiring passivity, it negates action. An ordered, lawful, moral, and virtuous life -- as an individual, city, state, or nation -- necessitates constant and intentional effort, often offending lesser angels of our personal or societal nature. In a letter to Mercy Warren in April 1776, John Adams wrote: "Public virtue cannot exist in a nation without private [virtue], and public virtue is the only foundation of republics."

Study of our human nature confirms that left unbridled, it does not tend toward order or virtue. Human nature gravitates to chaos.

Should our sensibilities stop at every discussion of ideology and consider all equal and worthy of embrace, even when they are not? Do we abandon virtues citing moral failures? Can we no longer discern right from wrong? Rather than right a troubled world, tolerance allows it to turn upside-down.

At some point, we must choose, and fight boldly for, the principles that govern us...

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