UN International Day for Tolerance
Reflection
The International Day of Tolerance was designated by the United Nations General Assembly in 1996. It has since been celebrated annually on November 16 by those who strive to unite the world through mutual understanding and respect. Tolerance is not passive it works toward recognizing that our diversity is a strength. It is the recognition and acceptance of appearances, opinions, beliefs and practices that differ from one’s own. Tolerance is the strongest foundation for peace and reconciliation. It is the rejection of social exclusion based on gender, disabilities, sexual orientation, and ethnic or religious background. For this purpose, the International Day of Tolerance seeks to promote tolerance, respect, appreciation and cooperation among the world’s different cultures. It strives to allow mixed communities to thrive and teaches that all humans are equally important.
Prayer
O God, help us to remember that, in our humanity we are one.
O! Thou God of all beings, of all worlds, and of all times,
We pray, that the little differences in our clothes,
in our inadequate languages,
in our ridiculous customs,
in our imperfect laws,
in our illogical opinions,
in our ranks and conditions which
are so disproportionately important to us
and so meaningless to you,
that these small variations
that distinguish those atoms that we call humans
one from another,
may not be signals of hatred and persecution
Voltaire
Action
What are your areas of intolerance? Why do you feel this way? How can you change? Do not engage in intolerant speech. How can you help stop intolerant speech?
Suggested Reading
They complain because they say if he is not one of us, he cannot do good. If he is not of our party, he cannot do good. And Jesus corrects them: ‘Do not hinder him, he says, let him do good.’ The disciples were a little intolerant, closed off by the idea of possessing the truth, convinced that those who do not have the truth, cannot do good. This was wrong . Jesus broadens the horizon. The root of this possibility of doing good – that we all have – is in creation.
Pope Francis
A serious threat to peace is posed by intolerance, which manifests itself in the denial of free conscience to others.
Pope John Paul ll
In the practice of tolerance, one’s enemy is the best teacher.
Dalai Lama XIV
Tolerance and compassion are active, not passive states, born of the capacity to listen, to observe and to respect others.
Indira Gandhi
If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity.
John F. Kennedy
If we spend all our time feeding the American people fear and conflict and division, then they become fearful and conflicted and divided. And if we feed them hope and we feed them reason and tolerance, then they will become tolerant and reasonable and hopeful.
Barack Obama
Ignorance and prejudice are the handmaidens of propaganda. Our mission, therefore, is to confront ignorance with knowledge, bigotry with tolerance, and isolation with the outstretched hand of generosity.
Kofi Annan
Tolerance of intolerance is cowardice.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
The highest result of education is tolerance.
Helen Keller
If civilization is to survive, we must cultivate the science of human relationships – the ability of all peoples, of all kinds, to live together, in the same world at peace.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Tolerance is giving to every other human being every right that you claim for yourself.
Robert Green Ingersoll
Tolerance is accepting differences in other people. It is thinking ‘It is OK that you are different from me.”
Cynthia Amoroso
I have seen great intolerance shown in support of tolerance.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge