The Politics of Tolerance

Tolerance is used as a substitute for justice, or equality, or even freedom. When it's raised to the level of a political principle, it usually cloaks the kinds of powers that are at issue. The way tolerance has operated in the modern West is always a kind of substitute for equality or supplement to equality. So I'm not against tolerance, but I do think our tendency to just get sleepy and happy when we hear the word tolerance is a problem.