User:ThaddeusFrye/workinprogress
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Toleration and Tolerance are terms used within debates in areas of social, cultural and religious context, to describe attitudes and practices that prohibit discrimination against those whose practices or group memberships may be disapproved of by those in the majority. Though developed to refer to the religious toleration of minority religious sects following the Protestant Reformation, these terms are increasingly used to refer to a wider range of tolerated practices and groups, such as the toleration of sexual practices and orientations, or of political parties or ideas widely considered objectionable.
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The term "tolerance" itself, like "toleration," is controversial and disliked by some due to its implication that the "tolerated" custom or behavior is in fact an aberration. Tolerance implies both the ability to punish and the conscious decision not to, but makes no statement to higher principle. Supporters of the term tolerance claim it to be more applicable than acceptance and respect. Detractors of the term suggest that the term is promoted as if it were a principle — one which falters when compared to more elevated concepts such as respect and civility. And in the end just because you have to tolerate something doesn't necessarily mean you have to approve of it.