One of the biggest problems facing America is the lack of tolerance that many, if not most, Americans exhibit towards others. Both leftists and conservatives are frequently very intolerant of individuals who seek values with which they disagree.
For example, leftists support a return to the “Fairness Doctrine,” which forced broadcasters to give equal time to opposing views. Unwilling to tolerate the fact that conservatives dominate talk radio, leftists want to use government coercion to achieve what the free and voluntary choices of radio listeners has denied them.
For their part, conservatives are generally intolerant of pornography and homosexuality. They want to use government coercion to deny consenting adults the freedom to engage in the sexual activities of their choosing.
In both instances, the intolerant seek to violate individual rights—the moral right of each individual to act on his own independent judgment, so long as he respects the mutual rights of others. In both instances, the intolerant seek to use government force to prohibit individuals from expressing ideas or pursuing values.
In contrast, only an advocate of individual rights is truly tolerant, for individual rights recognize and protect each individual’s freedom to act as he chooses, no matter how unpopular. Only individual rights provide a social context in which those with ideas or life styles outside of the mainstream are free from the dictates of the majority.
The intolerant believe that others should be forced to live their lives as they—the intolerant—demand. The advocate of individual rights believes that each individual should be free to live as he chooses.
This does not mean that all ideas and life styles are morally equal. Quite the contrary. Some ideas and life styles are demonstrably bad for an individual’s life and well-being. But tolerance involves accepting the fact that some individuals will choose such ideas and life styles. The intolerant reject this view, believing that individuals should be forced to act contrary to their own judgment and ideas. In my book, that isn’t very tolerant.