Three conflicts describe our modern world.
1. Absolute truth versus our opinions of that truth
The real truth exists! But there are your opinions and my opinions about that truth. Some people believe they are the enlightened, those who know the absolute or real truth. They hold to their beliefs without any doubt. They are convinced they are right and there is no purpose served by considering any alternatives. Others are open to discovery. They recognize that differences of opinion exist. They willingly cooperate in unbiased or open investigations to get closer to discovering the truth.
- Tolerance versus Intolerance
How are conflicts resolved? One way is to silence the opposition. Another perhaps more difficult way is to explore the differences, investigate further, and join in the pursuit of an acceptable resolution. The first way is intolerance, or if I want your opinion, I’ll give it to you. With intolerance, all paths to finding the truth are closed. Societies require tolerance of differences in order to flourish. Intolerance leads to tyranny.
- What the ends rightly justify
When any means to an end is justified, we’ve enabled tyranny. When intolerance allows censorship, silencing, exclusion, and worse, we’ve entered the end-state of civilization. When authorities, governments, and leaders of any partisan persuasion believe in their own exclusive enlightenment, they can justify any action to win the day, to accomplish their assumed-morally-superior objectives.
Today we see many examples of intolerance, including efforts to silence speakers at universities, news editors and social media technocrats that censor political speech they don’t like, and terrorists and other evildoers who seek to destroy their enemies at any cost. In each case, the arrogant belief in personal enlightenment about the truth manifests in profound intolerance and justifies any means necessary to accomplish their preferred outcome.
How do we counter this destructive intolerance?
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