Tolerance
Greg Koukl, at Stand to Reason, has written an excellent article on the issue of tolerance. The mantra of modern American is tolerance. One cannot publicly oppose the behavior or beliefs of others without being labeled with the dreaded “I” word (”intolerant”). Of course, there is one view which it is not intolerant to criticize. That is the view of evangelical Christians. Koukl rightly points out the hypocrisy and “intellectual cowardice” of simply brandishing the word “intolerant”. As he points out, it is much easier to hurl an insult - “you intolerant bigot” - than to confront an idea and either refute it or be changed by it.
In this article, Koukl talks about the definition of tolerance and asserts that today’s tolerance is not what tolerance used to be. He suggests that if one is charged with intolerance, she should ask for a definition.
He also differentiates between tolerance of people, tolerance of behavior, and tolerance of ideas. All persons are worthy of respect and courtesy, not all ideas deserve the same treatment. I would encourage a reading of the entire article.