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Much has been said about the virtues of tolerance and the practice of respecting the beliefs of others. It is an attitude that many strive for.
I was recently reintroduced to the idea by an acquaintance that liberals are more tolerant than conservatives. Referring to policy and personality, she suggested that conservatives are not open-minded or tolerant of those who seek help (e.g. government) to satisfy their basic needs.
While political parties certainly have a core set of values and political positions, points of view and tolerance of others generally vary from situation to situation, much derived from past experiences and future expectations.
On Boston Legal, conservative William Shatner (Denny Crane) is quite tolerant of his very liberal friend James Spader (Alan Shore), and vice versa. I actually prefer to use the word acceptance rather than tolerance to describe this quality of their relationship. Their political orientations and politics are very different to say the least, but their differences bring them together, or at least make the show interesting!
Human differences can separate people as much as they can bring them together.
Jason Simon
