Nonetheless, as is only too evident in the world today, these disciples of Pontius Pilate can be utterly intolerant of anyone who takes a position that is anchored in truth. Therefore, people will say, Who knows what is true or false, right and wrong? Let us all be tolerant. When pseudo-tolerance, severed from any relationship with truth, reigns supreme, it is elevated to the exalted, if unwarranted, stature of being a first principle. Consequently, a person may be accused of being intolerant simply because he holds to a truth, such as the iniquity of abortion or the disordered nature of homosexual acts. This mistake leads to a radical devaluation of the importance of truth, especially truth of a moral nature. The distinction between pseudotolerance and genuine tolerance is critical because the former is often mistaken for the latter. This freedom allows us to hold fast to truth while patiently tolerating the actions of others who are still seeking it.
Christ makes it clear that the truth will make us free (see Jn. But such a tolerance is based on intellectual bankruptcy. Pilate's view makes it clear that if we do not know any truth, we should be tolerant of anything. He retains his commitment to truth and respect for others as he lives in the hope that they, in their own individual way, will finally come to honor the truth that, for whatever reason, has eluded them. The person who is genuinely tolerant does not turn his back on truth, as did Pilate, nor does he disparage others for not having already found it. Such tolerance is respectful of other people and recognizes that they seek truth in their own way and may one day discover the truth they presently contradict, given their natural intellectual capabilities that are ordered to truth. There is genuine tolerance, he goes on to say, when a person is convinced of a truth, but at the same time recognizes the right of others who deny this truth to speak their own mind. The great Catholic philosopher Jacques Maritain has stated that the man who says: What is truth? as Pilate did, is not a tolerant man, but a betrayer of the human race. We might refer to the first kind as pseudo-tolerance, the second as genuine tolerance. One is rooted in skepticism, the other in respect for truth and the dignity of others.
0 kommentar(er)
