I'm sure I've told some of you why I try to be a tolerant person, but for those of you who don't know, I thought today would be a good day to relate the story. I've met some very intolerant people throughout my life, and I'm ashamed to say that I'm related to a very prejudiced person.
My maternal grandmother was raised and is a strict Lutheran. She looks down on anyone who has different beliefs than she does. While I respect her for being as committed to her religion as she is, she does so sometimes and is very irreverent to others.
My cousin has had an Indian (she's actual from India) girlfriend, Perul, for about the last year or so, and I remember very clearly the Easter that she first met our family. The family had been trying to decide whether she was Muslim or Hindu, because coming from India she could be either. Somehow they decided she was probably Muslim. (I didn't say anything, because I knew she was probably Hindu, otherwise she'd be from Pakistan most likely.) So grandma decided to have ham for the meat at our Easter gathering, and in a snobbish way try to offend Perul. (If they had decided she was Hindu, they would've cooked beef.)
It ends up that Perul was Hindu, so she could eat the pork without issue. I couldn't believe that these people could do something like that, people that I was linked to by blood! I decided then that I definitely was not going to be like that.
I've grown up seeing bitterly personal wars between my grandma and dad over the future of my brother and I. Grandma doesn't think we should go to college (or at least a prestigious one), because, "God will take care of tomorrow." Yes, well, I'm Conservative, and God helps those who help themselves.
She also tends to be very rude to waiters and waitresses. I don't like to go out to eat with them for that reason.
My grandparents can also be disrespectful when they drive, blowing their horn way too often, so I don't like driving with them. That can endanger their lives and mine if some other driver is having a bad day and gets ticked.
All in all it's because they are intolerant to people they think are below them, which is basically everyone else who isn't the exact same as them. If you look at things from the angle of the people being discriminated against, like Perul, it seems so much more clear. You're already inan awkward situation, meeting an unfamiliar family, but then also being looked at in a negative way from the start. It's sick. That's why tolerance means so much to me, not just on a level of given respect, but on a personal level as well.
Happy Thanksgiving!
11 comments:
wow, thats reallyy cruel... i'm generally pretty tolerant, like i mean im definitely not prejudiced against other races or religions, just some people bother me and i want to punch them in the face haha. not because of their ethnicity er anything, just because they are annoyyingggg haha. i normally try to tolerate it first but if it gets bad, well, they shouldve shut up :]
When someone's annoying, you don't have to accept that. Not liking that definitely isn't intolerant. If you thought they were annoying because they were Asian or something, that would be intolerant, but I doubt it's like that! =)
it's deffff. not like that haha
more like your little woody problem
when they're so dumb you wanna punch them in the face haha
i guess mayybe i am a little prejudiced against super dumb people..
oh well :]
To an extent, learning is a choice, so not liking people who are really dumb isn't really prejudice. But if the person is medically handicapped, then that's a different story. It's not as if you're holding something against them that they didn't bring upon themselves. I don't think that's intolerant at all.
I HATE it when people are like this. As I showed you in the Book Peace Be Upon You, there have been religions of people that have been living together in decent harmony for quite some time. It is people like your grandmother that start wars. It is people like your grandmother who make the world a bad place and overshadows the good things about it. I am very tolerant of Muslim people, even if they have persecuted Christians (especially Orthodox ones, of which I am one of) for a long time. I do not care about what our pasts have been like with our ANCESTORS. If the person is nice and kind and does not try to provoke anything like your grandmother does, then I bet that we would get along nicely.
Agreed, but my grandma isn't exactly in a seat of power. We don't really have to worry about her starting any wars. She's a really good cook though! =)
Ya, I agree w/ pandaguy. If everyone were tolerant of one another, the world be such a better place. It's also very sad that the media often focuses on the Christians who are similar to your grandmother and it gives people the wrong view of Chirstianity. Christians are supposed to follow Christ's example and Christ was tolerant of others. But a lot of people think Christians are intolerant people who rudely press their religion on others. It can be the same with other religions too. Many people think "Muslim" and "terrorist" are linked terms. It's really sad.
I agree completely! I don't really consider intolerant people as Christian. If Christians are supposed to follow Christ's examples (one which was tolerance), and someone is an intolerant person, then that person isn't really a Christian. Or you're a very misguided one to say the least.
I agree completely! I don't really consider intolerant people as Christian. If Christians are supposed to follow Christ's examples (one which was tolerance), and someone is an intolerant person, then that person isn't really a Christian. Or you're a very misguided one to say the least.
Well, sort of. It's not our place to say whether or not someone is a true Christian (that job falls to God, thankfully!). However, it's okay to say that a person is not acting like a Christian.
Oops! Sorry, I didn't mean leave yours on there! I copied it so a could look at it while I was typing my response and forgot to delete it! oops... haha
I'm sorry, I worded that poorly. You said what I meant. They definitely aren't acting like Christians if they are being intolerant.
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