Friday, August 01, 2008

Memo to the New York Times: Tolerant AND Sectarian (Not a contradiction in terms) -- Western Standard

I have not read Mencken, but I am guessing this might be what he would sound like if writing today.

"It’s not hard to be sectarian and tolerant. Tolerance would be respecting a person's right to worship as they believe. Tolerance would be to have a permissive attitude and not call for the outlawing of mosques or headscarves. Tolerance would be to engage Muslims in discussion over dinner. Tolerance would be to visit a synagogue, mosque, or ashram in order to avoid having a caricature of someone’s belief before you disapprove of it. But NY Time’s tolerance isn’t a permissive attitude. It’s permissive logic. Apparently you have to permit your mind to believe that contradictory claims are both true and not true."

Western Standard

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