MILT THOMAS
If I hate intolerance does that make me intolerant? Or if I “Eschew Obfuscation,” does that mean…actually, I am totally unclear as to what that means.
Getting back to intolerance, when people say they are tolerant of certain ethnic groups or their religion, that is not a continuum. The opposite of intolerance actually should be respect. Respecting a person or religion does not mean you agree, admire, like or love it; it simply means you and I are different, but I respect your right to be different. Tolerance is just short of intolerance. It means I can tolerate you or your opinion but you are wrong and stupid for not agreeing with me.
I bring this up because so many letters to the editor in newspapers these days are from people telling readers they are wrong not to agree with the writer. Whether it is the electric sale, twin pairs, politics, anything sexual or religious, to disagree is to be wrong. Sounds pretty intolerant if you ask me. It seems if people respected each other, there would be no need to impose their unsolicited opinions and beliefs on the rest of us. Of course, that would reduce the number of letters to the editor – or – just maybe it could raise the level of discourse.
Nah. I don’t think so.
In case you think this is a boldfaced attempt to elicit a letter of disagreement, in a way it is, because I am going to bring up the subject of Islam. When I travel to the Middle East and speak at colleges over there, the most frequently asked question is why do Americans hate Muslims so much. Knowing that most of these students speak English as a second language, I try to avoid the colloquialisms in our language that they frequently find obfuscating (like that word for instance). So here’s how I explain our attitude about Muslims:
America was settled by European Christians. Jews came in large numbers in the early 20th century and although they encountered discrimination and sometimes worse, they eventually blended in to our society. When Egyptians, Lebanese, Syrians, Persians, and other Middle Eastern people came to this country, we didn’t identify them by their religion, only by their country of origin.
The first time a Muslim identity arose was during the Vietnam war, when boxer Cassius Clay changed his name to Muhammed Ali and became a Muslim. Many Americans thought he did it to escape being drafted into the army; in other words, Muslims don’t fight for their country. The second Muslim known to Americans was Malcolm X, the X representing rejection of his Christian name and religion because it was a white man’s religion. So many Americans thought Muslims hated white people. The third Muslim name we learned was Osama bin Laden. So, I would then ask the class, if you were American, what would you think of Muslims?
Yes, it was a crude oversimplification, but it certainly wasn’t obfuscating. In reality, I have met very few people in the Middle East who dislike Americans, but many who dislike American politics. It is common for people there to think our government encourages anti-Muslim sentiment. When American politicians make often outrageous statements about Islam and Muslims in pandering to voters who harbor such feelings, those statements are heard and read by Muslims around the world. And Muslims are everywhere in the world. Over a billion of them. In case you didn’t know, the largest Muslim country is Indonesia and it is not in the Middle East, nor are its people Arabs.
I don’t know if this explanation will reduce the number of intolerant letters to the editor, but I welcome thoughtful disagreement from readers as a basis of a discussion but not an uninformed indictment of entire nations and religions. In that case, I am intolerant.
Indian River Guardian 
Intolerance at its core is simply a fear of the unknown. It is a lack of education that allows politicans and other “leaders” to perpetuate myths in order to achieve their own objectives.
Intolerance would significanly decrease if it were the norm in the USA to teach comparative regilions.
Intolerance would significantly decrease if the USA were like other advanced nations and required our students to learn languages other than English.
Intolerance would signifcatly decrease if the USA in its education structure put more emphasis on world history rather than concentrating solely on American history.
Intolerance would significantly decrease if both parents and children learned more about geography.
Intolerance would significantly decrease if the electorate would not allow politicans to use intolerance as wedge issues. Using fear of the “other” should not be awarded with political power.
Sadly, we as a nation do not understand the concept of by their deeds though shall know them. The USA policies in the Middle East over the past decade have done more to garner hate for the USA than anything that we have done on the world stage in centuries. When the Bush/Cheney administration launched their wars of choice in the Middle East, they ensured that there would be no respect for the USA from billions of people in the world. Thus, our intolerance has sown seeds that will haunt our children and grandchildren. It is now inevitable that the USA will be the victims of the hate that we have perpetuated.
I received a forwarded email recently in which the author made his case for why Muslims cannot be good Americans. I responded to the person who forwarded that bigoted message, reminding him that there have been Mutlim Americans members of the U.S. armed forces who have given their lives in service to their country. For someone to forward that message seemed to be to be the height of insensitivity and irresponsibility.