I have to say I disagree with the idea that "I am allowed to disagree with you but I'm not allowed to try to persuade you that you're wrong." I don't think that's a very good definition of tolerance nor a good way to live, since it accomplishes nothing.
I am more inclined to believe that the best attitude in life is this:
I am allowed to disagree with you, and I am allowed to try to persuade you that you're wrong, but only if I do it in a respectful and rational manner and only if I respond in that respectful and rational manner when others do the same to me. In both cases I must remain open-minded about the possibility that I am wrong.
Debate and argument are how we humans can attempt to use disagreement to come closer to truth. I hold that "believing things that are true and not believing things that are untrue" to be fairly important goals, as surely every rational person should. So when two people who disagree on some issue debate it, the goal is to establish which (if either) of these two people is correct. To try to find the truth. A proper, open-minded debate is one in which both people explain their justifications for their beliefs and in which, hopefully, one or both of the parties eventually say, "Oh, I see, I hadn't realised that," and change their belief to something closer to the truth.
It all falls down when people forget the very important "respectful and rational manner" and when they fail to keep an open mind about whether they might be wrong. This is why you get bickering and shouting instead of respectful debate. This is the lack of tolerance showing through - the failure to tolerate disagreement, the failure to tolerate mature debate. As tolerant Toadfish, it is our duty to ensure that when we are presented with ideas that conflict with our own, then if we wish to debate them, that we do so in that respectful and rational manner, and with open minds.
The world would be a happier place if everyone lived in such a way.
I am more inclined to believe that the best attitude in life is this:
I am allowed to disagree with you, and I am allowed to try to persuade you that you're wrong, but only if I do it in a respectful and rational manner and only if I respond in that respectful and rational manner when others do the same to me. In both cases I must remain open-minded about the possibility that I am wrong.
Debate and argument are how we humans can attempt to use disagreement to come closer to truth. I hold that "believing things that are true and not believing things that are untrue" to be fairly important goals, as surely every rational person should. So when two people who disagree on some issue debate it, the goal is to establish which (if either) of these two people is correct. To try to find the truth. A proper, open-minded debate is one in which both people explain their justifications for their beliefs and in which, hopefully, one or both of the parties eventually say, "Oh, I see, I hadn't realised that," and change their belief to something closer to the truth.
It all falls down when people forget the very important "respectful and rational manner" and when they fail to keep an open mind about whether they might be wrong. This is why you get bickering and shouting instead of respectful debate. This is the lack of tolerance showing through - the failure to tolerate disagreement, the failure to tolerate mature debate. As tolerant Toadfish, it is our duty to ensure that when we are presented with ideas that conflict with our own, then if we wish to debate them, that we do so in that respectful and rational manner, and with open minds.
The world would be a happier place if everyone lived in such a way.