Editor's Box

Government's New Tricks

A Smoker's Problem

Editor's Box

In the name of tolerance

Chris Hammonds - assistant editor My girlfriend is a self-proclaimed Christian. I am not. We may have some general philosophical differences, but we obviously get along and appreciate each other.

I was walking down Broad Street with her a couple of nights ago when we were approached by a group of men huddled around a pickup truck. One of them handed me a piece of paper and asked me if I would like a tract. I looked at his tract-specifically at the rather intense cover illustration of a crucified Christ, blood pouring from his wounds, and turned down his offer.

As we walked away, he asked me if I knew Jesus. "No," I said, simply.

Apparently infuriated, he then began to yell vague threats about an eternity spent in damnation. We kept walking as he loudly began to preach on the street corner.

This editorial is not about religious fundamentalism; it's about intolerance.

Personally, I don't proclaim myself to be a subscriber to any particular philosophy, organized religion, subculture or political affiliation. I am simply a human being, one of six billion. I am self-aware, thus, I have a personality. I realize that my interests and personal idiosyncrasies are mine alone. I can interact with my environment and others sharing it, but I must experience my own consciousness subjectively.

I could care less what beliefs or non-beliefs everyone else holds. It doesn't much matter to me if one believes we're all the incestuous children of the two original people put here by an omnipotent old man that lives in the clouds or if you believe that we live on the shell of a giant sea turtle floating through the cosmic ocean.

Furthermore, I don't make big issues out of where people were born, what ethnicity they claim or what their sexual orientation is.

The Crusades killed millions all in the name of expanding Christianity. Hitler went to Catholic school as a child. Vlad the Impaler was a religious crusader for the Holy Roman Emperor. He impaled people and drank their blood.

My point? Competitive pride can go hand in hand with all kinds of war and strife, regardless of where it comes from. Is this the "power of pride" that I see referenced on so many patriotic bumper stickers these days? Nationalism and religious fervor do not necessarily constitute positivity or love of humanity. If we're all so special then why are we fighting like ant colonies? Death and violence are death and violence, but evil is a perception.

I don't claim to have the answers. I simply wish that we could all be a little more objective. Less judgmental. Less eager to push our opinions or "beliefs" on others and certainly less eager to proclaim them as universal truth.