Re: Gay and Bi Brother Masons
Is it masonry about tolerance?
I ask myself how I act and react with regard to tolerance. I ask myself what tolerance is and what tolerance is not.
For me - I try to always start out acting in tolerance. I try to return tolerance with tolerance. I try to return intolerance with slightly decreased intolerance in case escalation can be reduced or avoided. I am clear that intolerance should not be tolerated. I'm sorry Master Yoda but my path to being a Jedi is very long and I am very far from arrival. So I do try and sure enough at times to try is to fail. I work on getting better at it every day.
Tolerance is peace. Tolerance is reacting to peace with peace. Tolerance is live and let live, non-interference.
Tolerance is not agreement, not acceptance, not acquiescence, not submission, not changing one's mind. Tolerance is not hate nor is it love either.
It is tempting to see tolerance in terms of turning the other cheek but I don't think that works. That would be acquiescence not tolerance so tolerance is less than that. Tolerance is also not winding up to strike the cheek even when I want to, but tolerance is more than that.
Is tolerance independent of morality? I don't think so but it is different from morality. Maybe it's a part of morality. Maybe it's a challenge of some sort with regard to morality. Then again maybe it leads to -
A mind is like a parachute. It only works when open. But please not so open that your brain falls out onto the sidewalk in front of you.