tolerance and prejudice

Tolerance, freedom, forgiveness are all key elements of our everyday life. And they are the bases of our interaction with fellow humans.

However, does the freedom of speech permit us to have prejudices? 

Calling someone FAKE won’t make you REAL

Calling them DUMB won't make you SMART

Calling her WEAK won't make you STRONG

Calling him UGLY won't make you BEAUTIFUL

Calling them MEAN won't make you NICE

Calling him GAY won't make you STRAIGHT

Calling her RUDE won't make you POLITE

Many times we reflect our insecurities upon the person facing us; we try to put them down in order for us to feel better.

As we are free to do what we want, so are they. When you allow yourself to do something, then the rest of your society should have an equal right to express itself. Each individual has his own limits and boundaries, one’s freedom ends when the other’s starts. 

 

The youth particularly are living in a world of hate, intolerance and cruelty. When the solution is simple: put yourself in the other person’s shoe for 1 day and live his or her daily struggle and you would think twice before calling them names and bullying them. 

15 year old girl holds hands with her 1 year old son. People call her a "slut", no one knows she was raped at age 14. People call another guy "fat", no one knows he has a serious disease causing him to be overweight. People call an old man "ugly", no one knows he experienced a serious injury to his face while fighting for our country in the war. 

Stereotyping is the complete opposite of tolerance. When you truly accept someone for whom they are, then you are a tolerant person.

Some might say, can we be tolerant towards a criminal for example? Well, we are what society makes us. The misunderstood and bullied student might grow up to be a criminal but is it solemnly his fault? Can’t we also blame the people who tormented him/her? When a simple hi or smile could have had a reverse effect and made them feel accepted. 

Ignorance is the root of all problems, when we encounter someone a little bit odd or unorthodox, he or she are immediately criticized because we are facing new behavior that we do not totally understand. While the best possible outcome would be to get to know this person and his lifestyle, this is rarely the first initiative taken. The most usual conduct is to isolate the individual from society and label him as eccentric, their crime: expressing their self.

There will be always a debate over every new idea, concept or behavior for the plain reason that humanity doesn’t seem to agree on a single issue, not even the apex of all subjects such as world peace. We’ve all heard it: we want peace and clean environment for future generations. Minorities are working hard to obtain such a result and their vocation shouldn’t be taken for granted. However, on the opposite side we find that the majority lakes interests and passion towards any matter, as if passing by life just as unreceptive spectators.

Not a soul need to be so nonchalant, every voice counts and makes a difference; a single grain can shift the stability of the scale. If we can all find the devotion to a cause we can create a worldwide impact. The human willpower is a colossal weapon, when set upon a specific target it is impossible to stop. Nevertheless, it is a double headed weapon capable of being a pure light for everything that is good in this world or a mutilating abyss. Both depend of our intentions and conscious.

Finally, the journey of a thousand mile begins with a single step. We just need the commitment to start that first step and then let life unfold as we grow.