Tolerance goes both ways.

Yes, this is a key thing for me. Tolerance doesn’t work if it’s a one-way thing…

Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned smoking as it’s not really a good example, given the nature of smoking, in the sense that smoking in public necessarily impinges upon the right to clean air of non-smokers.

Tolerance is a characteristic that I truly believe in, and I would like to think that I strive towards it as best I can. I’m not saying that that I always succeed, but I try…

Unfortunately true tolerance can only exist if everyone is tolerant. If everyone could learn to accept that people will have different viewpoints, and could tolerate all people and all things, then I think the world could be a better place. Tolerance goes both ways. We should be able to have strong opinions and speak them, just as long as we don’t force our opinions onto people.

Since you mentioned smoking. Yes people have the right to smoke if they so wish, personally I don’t, I don’t like the smell, I don’t like the idea of it, its dreadfully expensive and it is proven to be bad for you (and yes I know that anything taken improperly or in sufficient quantities can be a poison, but I think smoking is somewhat more severe), but I wouldn’t force someone to stop smoking. I would show my disaproval, and if they wanted to give up I would encourage them, but I wouldn’t force them.

The problem with smoking is that it is so invasive. I should be able to tolerate someone lighting up a cigarette in my presence, but I can’t. Why? Because all it takes for my hair, and my clothes, my skin even, to stink of cigarettes is for one person to light up and cigarette. If I’m going to a pub or a party where I know there is going to be smoking I know not to wear certain clothes because of this, but I don’t complain about it because unless it is a non-smoking area, they are entitled to smoke. Some smoker’s though seem to have an intolerance to the fact that I don’t want to breath in their smoke.

So tolerance goes both ways. It is an ideal that I think we should strive for, but if it works well, then it shouldn’t effect having our own opinions and values.

(I know it’s never necessarily an either/or, of course, this is purely hypothetical! But, as an example – you might think people have the right to choose whether or not to smoke, but you might think it was more important to ban smoking in public places.)