Tolerance: A Difficult Virtue
I enjoy listening to CBC’s Ideas. This week, there is a three part show on The Trouble With Tolerance, which seeks to discuss the limits of tolerance in Canada.
Questions associated with this topic include: Should we allow racial, ethnic, and/or religious profiling if, statistically, it is effective? How should Canadians engage cultures and religions that are oppressive to women or hateful to certain groups? Should we tolerate intolerant people? What are the limits to tolerance? To what extent is multiculturalism feasible (especially if a society seeks to hold democratic and liberal values)? Can values be freely chosen and/or should a nation impose values on a people? (I say yes.)
The question of how much we tolerate intolerance interests me greatly. I believe there are limits to tolerance. For example, more legislation is needed regarding how children are educated (we shouldn’t tolerate private schools that teach children to hate) and laws surrounding what expressions of religion are allowable for Canada (eg. religions promoting violent jihad or hatred of homosexuals or Jews). Of course, I have the same concerns of the “slippery slope” into a Big Brother type of government, however a just government can involve itself in the affairs of its citizens without becoming tyrannical. I think a just government is possible.
Returning to the radio program . . .
Sadly, the two out of three of the guests on CBC’s Ideas had little notion of the complexities surrounding the limits of tolerance. Instead, the debate was hijacked and became focused on tolerance in general. This prompted me to write Ideas a strongly worded email—which I seldom do.
Greetings,
As a frequent listener of CBC’s Ideas, I find your show personally and intellectually stimulating. However, the recent show, The Trouble With Tolerance, was below your regular caliber. While Michael Blake provided listeners with lucid argument, your selection of Genevieve Chornenki and Sunny Yi was unfortunate. I believe that this topic warrants much better attention, and I hope you will consider pursuing this discussion in the future. Neither Chorneki nor Yi displayed an ability to listen or respond to Blake’s arguments; the show tumbled into ad hominem arguments and anecdotes.
I hope you will more evenly weigh your debates in the future. I believe this format would be successful with other guests.
Many thanks,
Leif
Are there limits to tolerance? What are your thoughts?
Having listened to the program myself, I must agree with your assessment of the “debate.” All around, the program was quite a disappointment.
I think the topic of tolerance is a contentious one, and one that gets far too little genuine consideration in the Canadian media. I suspect that part of our reticence to debate the topic is that too often the mere presumption to discuss tolerance is considered intolerant. While the urbane, cosmopolitan upper-middle class in Canada may take tolerance and multiculturalism for granted, these values have not necessarily pervaded the majority of Canadian communities. I, personally, place a high value on the virtue of tolerance, if it is appropriate to refer to tolerance as a virtue; at the same time, I wonder how we can work to both clarify and disseminate an appreciation of tolerance without having open and honest discussion around what shape tolerance will and will not take in Canada. Issues of sectarian educational institutions and official positions on the ethnic and sexual oppression still faced by many in Canada will only become larger issues going forward.
A little honest debate, please.
Laura,
Honest debate . . . I think people are frightened to discuss tolerance, in part, because of perceptions that they will be perceived as intolerant. One thing that seemed clear to me in the program was that two of the debaters simply wanted t affirm that Canada is on the right path and that more tolerance is needed. Perhaps because their concern was more focused on necessary improvements and celebrating our successes (which was not the point of the show, mind you) they didn’t want to talk about the limits of tolerance. Perhaps they felt discussing the problems surrounding tolerance would undermine their project.
All the best,
Leif