Re: “Tolerance needed amongst everyone” by Darrell Johnson, Chilliwack Progress Letters March 31, 2023.
Gentle conciliatory words. Hmm…I don’t agree that schools are “sexualizing” kids. I think that we are sexual creatures from a fairly young age, and need clear and sympathetic information early on so we can make good decisions for ourselves.
So, what exactly is it that you now want the enlightened public to tolerate? I’m suspicious that you are saying that we must tolerate discrimination against LGBTQ2S persons. And that we must also tolerate keeping young people in the dark as to proper sex information and also tolerate banning literature pertaining to life and how different individuals experience it, including sex.
What else is on your list of things we must “tolerate”? A flat-Earth belief? Removing women’s right to vote? Conversion therapy?
RELATED: OPINION: The paradox of tolerance in an open society
Seriously, there is no diluting the principles of the government regarding the rights for individual sexual determination and the educational resources supporting these rights. This has been a long time coming, and it’s not going to be eroded and obliterated by re-adoption of 2,000-year-old ideas. You are correct that not all values deserve respect and tolerance.
Surely values that harm other people’s right to make their own choices as to who they are cannot be tolerated. Many ideas and principles that were accepted 2,000 years ago and even 50 years ago are not at all acceptable anymore and must not be tolerated. One must leave the comforts of tradition and move forward towards the light.
And last: I wish to say that if a person wants to follow a religion, I say go ahead, as long as it is only for your own personal peace and hope. That’s lovely. But as soon as a religion is used for power or judgment or hate, then I have to draw the line. I too was raised in a “conservative or traditional value system” - lots of Mennonite church, strict parents – and I got over all that as I became educated (through reading and association with forward-thinking people) in the concepts of logic, kindness, and true science. And so, you should try too. It’s really not that hard to come out of the cave. Especially if you think about how a young trans or gay or queer person would feel reading our letters. I hope to make them feel safe.
Pauline Harms
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