In our society, the religion of "tolerance" is held above all others. This is quite unfortunate because, while tolerance is valuable, it is more of a loaded concept than an absolute good.  In fact, Mahatma Ghandi never quite liked the word, writing that it connoted the "gratuitous assumption of the inferiority of other faiths to one's own." And he was right. Frankly, tolerance is patronizing. You tolerate noisy children behind you on an airplane, or a sub-par chicken salad. Tolerance is, at its nicest, an exercise of civilly enduring something unsavory. An equal is never afforded your tolerance. I say this because our society at large is faced with a choice: tolerance or respect. The particular issue that embodies this distinction is, of course, the mosque near Ground Zero. The law is quite clear on the subject. Indeed, when President Obama was praised for his comments on the issue, I was rather surprised. "Obama's Brave Stand" read the...(Read Full Post)