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Open Thread – Tolerance

The Daily FacePalm from Wasilla. [Photo by Jim Wright]

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53 Responses to “Open Thread – Tolerance”
  1. Martha Unalaska Yard Sign says:

    That’s a Palin mobile! You can tell because “car” is misspelled.

  2. benlomond2 says:

    I find it amusingly ironic that Christianity survived because the Roman Empire was tolerant of any and all religions within its boundaries, yet once Christianity became the “State Religion” of the Empire, it proceeded to eliminate all other religions… Tolerance is NOT something that Christian history demonstrates very well… perhaps on an individual level at times, but on a larger scale, it falls far short of its words.

  3. LoveMyDogs says:

    The tolerance thing is really quite hard when one thinks about it. I find myself less and less tolerant of intolerant people. Somehow I just cannot relate to them on very many levels. I must say, however, I do not go around proudly displaying my intolerance on the bumper of my vehicle. And I do not have a Jesus fish there either. Thanks for the thought provocation Jim.

  4. Lacy Lady says:

    With all the negativity–a friend sent me a “feel like a beauty fix?” today

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsWRsG0yhUU&feature=related

  5. John says:

    Not to mention negotating with terrorists before his inaugeration to make sure Carter would not get credit for the release of hostges held in Iran.

  6. bubbles says:

    this just in. today health insurance companies must use at least 80% of their income for their customers. you and me.
    go Obama!

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2011/12/02/the-bomb-buried-in-obamacare-explodes-today-halleluja/

    • benlomond2 says:

      Great article ! I really do need to go back and mark the calender when the different aspects of Obama care kick in …

  7. AKPetMom says:

    I’m sure this family is first in line to grab their red shirts and jump on the Prevo bus when some intolerant protesting is required in Anchorage, bless their little hearts 😉

  8. Hugh Wade says:

    Amazing on so many levels. Jesus was a tolerant, open individual that embraced the dregs of his society. Hmmmm. Let me check my tolerance while I make an intolerant statement because I am the follower of a tolerant historical figure. But that’s too much to think about. So, I’ll just get back to judging others while I proudly, loudly broadcast my intolerance. Nice work, asswipe.

    • StElias says:

      Oh, Jesus was tolerant alright, he had a supreme conviction for tolerance, compassion, equality,
      inclusion, forgiveness, and peace. More than one Gospel records that, when asked, “which is the most important commandment”, His response was, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

      But he did demonstrate intolerance, anger and irritation, as with the Fig Tree, Mark 11; 12-14,
      or with those running the Temple in Jerusalem, John 2:13-16. At those times, one might say he lost it, as I do when I perceive the tenets of those driving said vehicle with a sticker obviously condemning others who disagree with their intolerant theological convictions. The same degree of intolerance you display because “Ass Wipe” is intolerant in pointing this out to us all.

      • mike from iowa says:

        But Jesus ran around with a known prostitute and other undsirables and we in America know that the holier than thou Christian rwnj would never consort with prostitutes(unless it was research purposes to determine their desirability) or other dregs of society. That would tarnish their image of themselves. I could actually imagine rwnj serving food to the poor unfortunate billionaires,their masters,in an out of the way swanky restaurant where the 99% can’t afford to be seen.Or enter.

  9. I took this picture in the Wasilla Fred Meyer parking lot, what you can’t see are the Jesus Fish on the bumber. This is a G. K. Chesterton quote from Christian Apologetics. A misquote actually, the original goes: “Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions.”

    I wanted to ask the driver, since Jesus quite often preached tolerance, does that mean he apparently didn’t have any convictions? Ironic, you having that bumper sticker above the Jesus Fish, don’t you think? What? I’m just asking, is all.

    But the driver looked none to friendly, and my wife ordered me to keep quiet. My wife is wise.

    Here’s another Gilbert Chesterton quote suitable for bumper stickerdom: “The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected.”

    • UgaVic says:

      First …yes, wives due have a tendency to be wise, especially when looking out for family’s well being in situations like the above:-)

      Second the quote from G Chesterton is excellent and will be also passed on from this little corner of AK…!!

    • Valley_Independent says:

      I saw this bumper sticker in a Wasilla-area church parking lot on a Sunday morning, and was glad it wasn’t my church. Perhaps I should have left a note thanking the owner for saving Christians the trouble of getting out of their cars?

    • leenie17 says:

      From several things you’ve mentioned on your blog, your wife does indeed appear to be very wise. Better keep her safe and close so she can face the undoubtedly challenging task of keeping you out of trouble!

      LOVE the second quote.

    • Chesterton is one of my favorite, and very wise, authors. I think I’ve heard those quotes before, but never as stand alone, appropriate for bumper sticker quotes. I will have to write those down somewhere.

  10. Baker's Dozen says:

    I want to park next to them and get a bumper sticker that reads, “It’s hardest to tolerate the intolerant–but I’m working at it.”

  11. tallimat says:

    Okay. Although I reside in north Mat Su Borough, I gotta stick up for my post office location… Wasilla.
    Yes dummies reside and thrive in Wasilla. Yet deep within the bowels of vacant intelligence, there are a few normal folk.

    Not to sway anyone off topic, but Wasilla is void of graffiti. Probably because one has got to look long and hard to find a good surface for artistic release. What does exists is usually small, often in sticker form. Everything from Rainbow Brite and Hello Kitty to anti Obama stickers.. Some glow in the dark.
    Look all I’m sayin is yes, Wasilla is known for its “lack of intelligence”, just read the bumper
    sticker. … but there are normal people here and we are of normal brain power … Who quite frankly, wish the world would quite focusing on our clueless population.

    • Baker's Dozen says:

      You usually only get a lot of graffiti when there’s rival gangs or tagging groups. When everyone’s in the same intolerance group, there isn’t much need. It also tends to be groups that are the underdogs. I have a feeling that the intolerant in Wasilla aren’t the underdogs.
      But I’m glad there’s not much graffiti.

    • bubbles says:

      i agree. Wasilla is home to some of the sweetest most loving humans on the face of the earth.
      *waving to Scout and Hubby*
      i adore you guys and when i touch down in Anchorage one fine day i will fly right into those loving arms.

      • scout says:

        Bouncing hugs off the moon at you until we are graced with the radiance of Ms. Bubbles in Alaska! Here comes one now {{{{Bubs}}}}
        Pack your bags full of mudpups and we shall all have grand adventures…

  12. Alaska Pi says:

    Pfffttt SUV of intolerance!

    “That’s cause it ain’t hard to get along with somebody else’s troubles
    And they don’t make you lose any sleep at night
    As long as fate is out there burstin’ somebody else’s bubbles.
    Everything is gonna be alright.
    And everything is gonna be alright.”

    Steve Goodman

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H8S9yFEhuo

  13. Alaska Pi says:

    I wish I could help you
    help you with
    The Load. The Thing.
    but it’s like
    wishing I could help
    the Chileans and the Cong
    the fly-faced children
    sucking dirt off their fingers
    the boat people
    and the Afghans
    and the shrieking napalmed
    eight-year-olds
    and the Jews
    and the Gypsies
    and the heretics
    and the blind bluesman
    and the heroin freak
    and the Jesus freak
    and the palsied boy flinging arms
    and weeping mothers
    impotent fathers
    freckled fair-haired skinheads
    spitting on the cross
    Perpetua in the pit
    Jeremiah in the pit
    and me and you and them
    in the pit
    all the crucified
    the hanged, the pierced
    the heaps in graves
    those that claw at walls
    those that starve in barns
    those that trudge daily
    in unshod feet
    the innocent in boxes
    the poets unredeemed
    the artists and singers
    and broken -tongued
    lovers, laughers
    every haloed son-of-a-bitch
    every deformed limping saint

    and I wish I could help you.

    I wish we
    could help us.

    Martin Williams
    inmate poet
    Folsom Prison

    • Mag the Mick says:

      Trying to write this through tears. I have seen one other poem by this man, Martin Williams, and immediately copied it in my journal. This one will follow. Can you tell me more about him?

      • Alaska Pi says:

        I put the other poem by Mr Williams here some time ago.
        There’s not much to tell, Mag.
        A dear friend of mine has worked with Martin in a special program at Folsom for a number of years. Martin has shared his chapbooks, uncopyrighted, with my friend, who shares them with everyone possible.

        We talk a lot about poets, always have, my friend and I.There are so few. We had quite a talk recently about whether there are any dangerous (effective ) poets left. We voted Adrian C Louis dangerous and considered Joy Harjo seriously ( I think she is ) . Mr Williams is for sure.

        My friend is dying.
        Mr Williams sent this one last week in a chapbook of new poems with handwritten notes from all the inmates my friend’s work has touched.

    • bubbles says:

      powerful stuff. simply wow.

    • mike from iowa says:

      Some small consolation for Chile,I heard last week that Chile has issued warrants for former American officials involved in the 1973 military overthrow of Chilean government and installing General Pinochet as America’s dictator/thug in chief. Money and arms were sent by courier to the US embassy to be given to the military for the coup.

      • Mag the Mick says:

        And two of the civilians these US generals are accused of killing were – you guessed it – US citizens. One of Pablo Neruda’s poems translates as “For Those Wishing to Commit Nixonicide”. One of his last, written shortly before he died. (He suffered a severe heart attack after Pinochet took over, and Pinochet’s troops would not allow his ambulance to continue to Santiago and the country’s only cardiac unit.) I visited Chile (a lifelong dream) in 2002, and found a beautiful country with courageous, courtly people. I was a bit ashamed to admit my citizenship, though once I started reciting Neruda to cab drivers and waiters, it made no difference.

        • mike from iowa says:

          I am so grateful for your wit and wisdom and eloquence and for keeping my spirits soaring high. You and so many others here have expanded my world immensely. I am so glad I found this site. I think I’m gonna shed a few tears tonight for all the good and bad done in the name of Humanity.

        • Alaska Pi says:

          Reciting Neruda!!!!
          In Spanish?
          Pablo Neruda !
          My favorite!

    • merrycricket says:

      Incredibly beautiful.

    • jenjay says:

      What an amazing poem. What an amazing artist. Thank you for sharing his work.

    • Dave Migman says:

      Dear Alaska Pi

      I recently watched a documentary called “At Night I Fly” and I was blown away by Martin William’s poem and managed to looked up a few online. Is there anyway to contact him, or even how to read more of his work or get a copy of his chapbooks?

      Hope you can help.

      (and I know it is late but I am sorry for your loss)

      Yours sincerely

      Dave Migman, Edinburgh, UK

  14. mike from iowa says:

    A few more convictions of law-breakers from our previous presidential administration and tolerance by rwnj to uphold the rule of law against their brethren would have done some small wonders for me personally. I am still amazed that impeaching Clinton for lying about sex is a higher crime than an administration outing a covert CIA agent,her family and all her contacts from around the world,for the hell of it. Running clandestine arms sales to our sworn enemies from the White House basement during Raygun’s administration and then using the profits to fund Contra rebels in Nicaragua against the express intent of the Boland amendment,ranks right up there for impeachable crimes left unpursued.There are some crimes for which I will never be able to put in the past. Democrats not having the cojones to prosecute Rethugs is a crime of the highest order.

  15. barbara says:

    ignorance and hatred: “values” to the person driving this car. 🙁

  16. Diane says:

    Intolerance (lack of toleration; unwillingness or refusal to tolerate or respect contrary opinions or beliefs, persons of different races or backgrounds, etc. ) would work just as well for that car sign.

    It takes guts and integrity to do the right thing.

  17. thatcrowwoman says:

    Time for Teaching Tolerance,
    a powerful project from the Southern Poverty Law Center,
    “A place to find thought-provoking news, conversation and support for those who care about diversity, equal opportunity and respect for differences in schools”

    http://www.tolerance.org

    *mourning the death of a student, shot and killed*

    Friday we were in shock; district grief counselors “staged their response” in the library.
    I spent the morning holding on to weeping students, rubbing backs of the non-responsive, passing the tissues, murmuring reassurances. So many broken hearts.

    Fly Like an Eagle (Seal)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v09H0A9q1mA

    Rest in Peace, Little Brother.
    thatcrowwoman

    • jimzmum says:

      Oh, TCW. I am so sorry. So hard. So awful. Been there, been on grief counselor team. Could only do that for a year. Peace.

    • bubbles says:

      Dear Crow this is terrible news. i am saddened by the willingness of so many to simply kill for no other reason than the thrill of it all. that thrill lasts right up to moment handcuffs are placed on their wrists and chains on their ankles. take care of yourself little sister.

    • LoveMyDogs says:

      ((((TCW)))) Thinking of you and all of your little birds today.

    • leenie17 says:

      So sorry to hear this, TCW.

      We lost a former student to gun violence a few years ago and it was devastating. I can’t imagine how much worse it must be when the student is still in your school. Our student was walking away from an older boy who was trying to start a fight, and was shot three times in the back.

      It is simply heartbreaking to see how little value some of these young people place on human life…and how easily they can take it away from another.

      A few months after our student was killed, we planted a tree in front of the school in his memory. We also give an award every year to a student who demonstrates the ability to solve problems peacefully. It is a wonderful way to keep our student’s memory alive and encourage others to reject violence. Perhaps, once the grief has eased, your school can find a way to remember the student you lost in a way that can become a positive step towards making the world a more peaceful place.

      My heart goes out to you and your students, and I share in your grief for a life ended much too soon.

    • merrycricket says:

      I can’t find words for this news. It’s just too sad and senseless. Healing thoughts and prayers are winging their way to you and all the littlebirds.

    • Baker's Dozen says:

      I remember those days when I taught high school. What was even sadder was that it happened often enough–off campus–that the kids didn’t cry.

      All my prayers are with you and your callow brood.

    • Alaska Pi says:

      (((TCW and children )))

  18. Kath the Scrappy says:

    Aww, the ignorance is so pathetically sad. Here’s something else I find disturbing:

    Deirdre: Abuse by LA County Sheriffs after Occupy LA Raid
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnYkx99I8JQ&feature=player_embedded#!

    Uploaded by OccupyLAMedia on Dec 3, 2011 10:59mins

    Deirdre from Food Committee describes abuse at the hands of LA County Sheriffs after the raid on the Occupy Los Angeles encampment on Nov. 30.
    – – –
    What she describes is totally un-American & militarized treatment of our citizens. Watching her, I have no doubt about her veracity. Some of the details are pretty, well … unsure of the word frankly.

    Will someone please explain to me WHY our Secretary of State (as well as those from previous Administrations!) is running around the world lecturing other countries about human rights, while these bad things are escalating HERE at home?

  19. jimzmum says:

    How strange. How sad. A good reminder for me to take a breath, to think. To act when I can, and to live a life that teaches by words and actions. Thank you.

  20. GoI3ig says:

    There is no shortage of “conviction” out in Wasilla. An appropriate place to spot such a sticker.

  21. Susan says:

    Doesn’t exactly make me anxious to be further acquainted…those types around here are usually in a truck on tires so high a person in a normal human-sized vehicle can’t read their stickers without climbing, not that I’m hankering to read them anyway. I see enough nastiness to be looking for more in this life.