What Price for Tolerance

My liberal friends (and yes, I have a few) tell me that my conservative views make me "less tolerant" or that I need to learn to be "more tolerant" -- I suppose, like they are when they trash conservative views or religious beliefs. This is not to say that they all do this and that none of them share some of my views or beliefs.

But it does seem to me quite often that tolerance practiced is a one-way street.

The Left is great at preaching tolerance. We're supposed to be tolerant of all sorts of things that go against the grain. If one does not believe in or support gay marriage, then one is labeled intolerant or bigoted.

Consider the latest dust-up over someone's alleged acts of intolerance: the invitation of Pastor Rick Warren, from Saddleback Church, to give the inaugural invocation on January 20th. I thought that President-elect Obama made a courageous choice of Rev. Warren in asking him to participate.

Apparently, I was wrong. At least according to Barney Frank among others.

"Giving that kind of mark of approval and honor to someone who has frankly spoken in ways I and many others have found personally very offensive, I thought that was a mistake for the president-elect to do,” said Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat.

To his credit, Obama, speaking at a Dec. 18 news conference, said he doesn’t share Warren’s views on gay rights and wants to create an atmosphere “where we can disagree without being disagreeable and then focus on those things that we hold in common as Americans.”

Wow -- disagree without being disagreeable -- sort of sounds like tolerance to me.

To his credit, Warren had the following response on Saturday: "You don't have to see eye to eye to walk hand in hand."

Gee, once again sounds like tolerance to me.

And to balance things out on Jan. 20th, Obama invited invited Joseph Lowery, a Methodist minister and civil rights leader who supports same-sex marriage and gay rights, to deliver the benediction.

I'm not sure what more those who have their knickers in a knot over this would want, except obviously the ouster of Warren from the program.

But that would be -- umm-- intolerant, wouldn't it?

But I tend to forget... the Left gets to preach all about tolerance, and in doing so it relieves them from ever having to actually practice it in real life. They just demand that from everyone else who happens to disagree with them.

How very tolerant of them.