
The New Tolerance
“Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions.” - G.K. Chesterton
On June 19, 2012 the Ontario legislature passed Bill 13 (the “anti-bullying” bill) into law, giving legal protection to the teaching and promotion of homosexuality and the newly defined concepts of gender and gender identity in Ontario schools. During open debate on the bill Cabinet Minister Glen Murray, after reading the section of the Catholic Catechism describing homosexuality as sin previously taught in Catholic schools declared: “I say to you Bishops: ‘You’re not allowed to do that anymore.’” With a single stroke of legislation, the government placed a gag order on Christian beliefs about human sexuality, and did so all in the name of ‘tolerance’.Faye Sonier of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada observed the irony:“It’s unfortunate that a bill declared to promote tolerance in schools has been turned into a club of intolerance with which to beat back the lawful and respectful expression of Catholic (i.e. Christian) beliefs."[1]How was such a feat accomplished? The short answer is by re-engineering social values through the careful redefinition of words. In this case it was through a redefinition of the word “tolerance”.
The New Tolerance: Traditionally the word “tolerate” means “to put up with”. This means considering my viewpoint true and my opponents false, but still respecting that my opponent has the right to make a case for their view. Plainly put it means that we tolerate people, but not their ideas.
The Battle For 'Truth':
“What is today a matter of academic speculation begins tomorrow to move armies and pull down empires.” - J. Gresham Machen
The 20th Century saw a seismic shift in thought as traditional ideas about truth were overturned. This “post-modern turn”, as some came to call it, rejected the modern iidea that truth is objectively real or “out there”, waiting to be discovered. Instead, as postmodern philosopher Richard Rorty puts it: “Truth is made rather than found.”[3] Unfortunately many Christians uncritically accepted this postmodern re-visioning of truth, failing to see that its very assumptions are not only incompatible with, but antithetical to the gospel. Recent studies show how such uncritical accommodations are proving devastating to the church.“There is no right and wrong ever in anything, it’s what you believe in you as an individual and what you choose to do.” - Elsie
2. The Demise of the Text: Where the great texts of history don’t carry their own meaning, rather meaning is created by the reader.“[Jesus’] life is meant to be interpreted in your own way .”- Stan
3. The Dominion of Therapy: Where truth is denied, the question shifts from “What is true?” to “What makes me feel good?”“I think being Christian or having faith of any kind is more about what you personally believe and what you, how you live your life ...You have to think about it and what works for me.” - Alvin
4. The Decline of Authority: Since liberation comes from creating our own truth, the authority of texts, authors, traditions, the Bible and especially God must be dethroned.“To tell one religion they’re wrong and all of a sudden you’re right and glorified, you can’t do that.” - Suzanne
5. The Displacement of Morality: Without God the foundation for moral truth disappears and moral relativism rules.“So I just really feel that, uh, you should do what’s comfortable for you, and do what you feel is right.” - Wayne
It is becoming clear that our post-modern culture’s re-conception of truth has shaped the minds of an emerging generation of Christian young people such that they don’t even know what the gospel is about anymore.A Deceptive Liberation:What is so deceptive about this “postmodern” vision of truth, and its “New Tolerance” offspring is that it supposedly liberates us from the “oppressive authority of absolute truth” by authoritatively imposing its own absolute. To say: “There are no absolute truths” is in fact an absolute claim about truth. It’s an inescapable fact that all truth claims rest upon some foundation of absolute authority, even claims that deny truth. As we’ve seen before, a simple way to expose this fact is to counter any truth claim with the question: “Says who?”The “New Tolerance” and its promise of “inclusivity” then can only deliver on that promise if you subscribe to the authoritative viewpoint of its architects. If you don’t, you’d better watch out! The “New Tolerance” provides no pathway to a “live and let live” utopia. It merely supplies an effective verbal club with which to beat into silence anyone who would voice disapproval.Responding to the New Tolerance:
What should Christians do when the culture we live in and long to reach has not only
rejected the content of the gospel, but the very concept of truth that makes that content
meaningful? How can we rebuild the house when not only are the walls torn down, but the very foundation removed? This turns out to be a very old question that God has already answered.“When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord is on his heavenly throne.” Psalm 11:3-4
“For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor. 3:11)So, we need not make the mistake, as some have, of feeling the need to accommodate postmodern notions of truth and consequent views of 'tolerance' in proclaiming the gospel. Rather, we need to present people with the reality of Jesus.