C What does Tolerance Eat in Russia?

"I do not agree with what you say, but sacrifice your life, protecting your right to express your own opinion."

The classical theory of Tolerance Voltaire

Wherever you live, to which social stratum you belong, no matter what religious views you follow, you have probably heard (and more than once) such a tricky buzzword as tolerance. Now it began to be used right and left, sometimes even distorting the meaning and not fully realizing what kind of obligations it imposes on a person. Why do I say "commitment"? Because, words have a certain power and impose a certain responsibility. But, unfortunately, the value of the word as such falls today. And can you answer the question, what is tolerance?

Think about it. Answered? And now the correct answer! So, that's how the overseas concept defines everyone's favorite Wikipedia :

Tolerance (from Latin tolerantia - patience) is a sociological term denoting acceptance, understanding of a different way of life, behavior, customs, feelings, opinions, ideas, beliefs without feelings of discomfort.

But the philosophical view from the New Philosophical Encyclopedia :

Tolerance is a quality that characterizes the relation to another person as an equidistant personality and is expressed in the conscious suppression of a feeling of rejection caused by all that is different in the other (appearance, manner of speech, tastes, lifestyle, beliefs, etc.).

Summarize the information received, we see that tolerance is the ability of a person to consciously suppress a feeling of some kind of dislike or rejection of the behavior, views or external signs of another person who differs from the majority without feeling any discomfort.

If suddenly your deep philosophical thought coincided with the thought of encyclopaedic authors, I congratulate you on the right path. If not - now you know for sure that there is tolerance and you will be able to apply this word to your destination.

So, we sorted out the verbal form. Let's look carefully at the content. To begin with it is worth saying that the Latin term "tolerantia" up to the 16th century. Meant passive patience, the voluntary transfer of suffering, associated with such concepts as "pain", "evil." Then a few more values "budded out", such as "permission", "restraint". Most often this term began to be treated in the religious context as a kind of "religious tolerance", which is historically the first and dominant form of manifestation of tolerance. The problem of tolerance first arose in Western civilization at the religious level, and religious tolerance laid the foundation for all other freedoms that were achieved in a free society. Sometimes it is believed that nothing is more difficult than being tolerant of people who hold other religious beliefs. How fair it is for a Russian person to decide for you.

A special role in the theoretical comprehension and practical embodiment of the principle of tolerance belongs to the Age of Enlightenment, which proclaimed the freedom of conscience and speech. In Russia, the notion of tolerance began to be used in the liberal press since the middle of the XIX century, but from the mid-1930s it disappeared from political vocabulary, until it reappeared in the early 90s of the 20th century.

Dictionaries give the term "tolerance" as a synonym. However, there is one BUT. As it was already said, "tolerance" originally meant a passive process - a person silently and resignedly tolerates suffering, relying on the will of the case, whereas "tolerance" is active and must directly come from the person himself.

And now remember our definition. I do not know why, but "conscious suppression" and "without feeling uncomfortable" do not fit me personally ... It's like a child who does not like milk to make him drink. Yes, he will drink, deliberately suppressing dislike for the drink, but will it be comfortable for him? It is doubtful. Rather, his mood will deteriorate, he will feel pressure and coercion. And this is normal. Tolerance, as well as any other quality or feeling, can not be imposed, it can only be "nurtured" in a person. And it is necessary to do this from childhood unobtrusively and gradually.

Perhaps, at last, we came to the moment when the powerful of this world realized the problem and decided to tackle it. Note that we are talking about Russia and only because in Europe and the Americas the situation has changed for the better. A policy of tolerance is being actively introduced in our universities, various seminars and conferences are being held aimed at developing a tolerant attitude among young people. Schools in some particularly ethnically diverse regions are also trying to introduce this kind of practice.

It's all great, but ... again BUT. The fact that our president and many Russian ministries pay attention to this problem is very encouraging, but at this stage the results are not particularly noticeable. Imagine that a patient with ARI has come to you. Would you give him pills for a cough and send him home? No. You will prescribe him a comprehensive treatment, starting from drugs for immunity to drugs for local use. So it is with tolerance. Trying to teach people to accept and understand each other on one-to-one lessons at the age of 18-20 years, when the formation of a personality has already been completed, is completely useless. The disease is rooted in the society itself, in the mentality and perception of the world around us. Russian culture and consciousness has always been aimed at the continuity of generations. Therefore, it is difficult for us to perceive, and even more so with an easy heart and open mind, to accept something alien, something "not right." The press aggravates the situation, which tastes with relish every race conflict, religious clash or social clashes, often exposing one of the parties in a bad light.

Whatever it was, you can not blame everything on public policy, the media or the bad influence of someone from outside. Everyone has his own head on his shoulders, no matter how trite it may sound. Until each of us learns to contemplate and accept the world in all its wonderful diversity as it is, all futile attempts to impose something "from above" will cause only greater negative and rejection of the society. So, that look at the world more widely; Seek in all the bright side; Try on someone else's "skin"; Be tolerant of each other. From tolerance to tolerance, only a few steps. In our power to make the life of future generations brighter, safer and freer!