On Children and the "Other" (was:Re: On the perfection of moral virtues)

[houyhnhnm102]

No: HPFGUIDX 169545

Alla:

> But what if somebody does not want to? Do their 
> beliefs and actions still have to be tolerated?

> For the record, I do believe that Malfoy's redemption 
> is coming, yes, hate him as I am.

> But what if it does not? After all in book 6, he at 
> the best was wavering, was he not at the end?

> So, suppose Malfoy decides that being with DE and 
> Lordie Voldy suits his fancy better. Does that mean 
> that Trio should applaud him and accept his choice? 
> I mean, applaud probably is the wrong word, but you 
> know what I mean.

> Are they still obligated to think that he is a wonderful 
> person to be considered you know, tolerant?

> [...]

> So, I do not know, I think even in the time of peace 
> it is defining for the person whether they supported 
> Dumbledore or Voldemort at least partially.

houyhnhnm:

I don't think that anyone is obligated to think that 
someone else is a wonderful person in order to be 
tolerant.  Tolerance does not require admiration or 
even approval.  I think "applaud" *is* the wrong word.

I agree that it is defining for the person whether 
they chose Dumbledore or Voldemort once there was a 
Voldemort.  That's what I meant about the WW needing 
to have a Dark Lord.

Suppose that Draco does choose to help defeat 
Voldemort, but at the end of the conflict he still 
clings to his ancestry worship and feelings of 
superiorty for being a pure-blood.  Would the Trio
be obliged to tolerate him even though they 
disapprove of his beliefs or would they be 
justified in bullying him? 

I was disaffected with the word "tolerance" for many 
years.  During the era of the civil rights struggle 
in the US, I thought of it as a kind of code word for 
people who were lukewarm about full inclusion of 
minorities.  I mean, how cold to merely tolerate 
another group when what one should be doing is 
learning to *appreciate* them.  The years have 
made me see things differently.  It is impossible 
to appreciate everything about people who are 
different from oneself, so then is it okay to 
discriminate against what one doesn't appreciate?  
No it isn't, and that is where tolerance comes in.  
I've come to the conclusion that it's a pretty 
good word after all