Advanced Composition Essay: Tolerance For Dummies.

"That's a good thing; that's a damn good thing. We can use that to keep the niggers in their place."

- Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest
[Speaking about the KKK in 1867]

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"O Christian Martyr,
who, for truth, could die -
when all about thee
owned the hideous lie!
The world, redeemed
from superstition's sway,
is breathing freer
for thy sake today."

- John Greenleaf Whittier
[Inscription on a monument marking the grave of Rebecca Nurse, one of the condemned "witches" of Salem]

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"Quoniam punitio non refertur primo & per se in correctionem & bonum eius qui punitur, sed in bonum publicum ut alij terreantur, & a malis committendis avocentur.”

Translation [from Latin]:

“For punishment does not take place primarily and per se for the correction and good of the person punished, but for the public good in order that others may become terrified and weaned away from the evils they would commit."

- The Handbook for Inquisitors
[Written in 1528]

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From public figures like Mother Theresa and Ghandi, to John Lennon and Lady Gaga; from the Suffrage Movement in New York [1912], to the hippie-youth "Peace Riots" all across America [1964 - 1969] -- the issue of equal human rights has been more adamantly pursued and publicly debated in the past one hundred years than in all of human history. What exactly are human rights? Why are they so important? How does this affect us in this day and age? Why should we take a stand for tolerance even in our every day lives?

More importantly, why should we give a damn?

In a very basic nutshell, human rights are "international norms that help to protect all people everywhere from severe political, legal, and social abuses. Examples of human rights are the right to freedom of religion, the right to a fair trial when charged with a crime, the right not to be tortured, and the right to engage in political activity," according to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Let's imagine a world without these things.

That should be easy. Open up a history book.

As you can see, I've taken the liberty of citing a few brief examples for you in the opening to this essay -- but just in case that was not enough of a reminder of the dark history surrounding prejudice, intolerance, and hatred, here are a few more warm and fuzzy reminders:

After 1945, the holocaust during WWII, by the hands of the Nazi Regime, roughly about six million European Jews [as well as members of some other persecuted groups, such as gypsies and homosexuals] were rounded up, tortured and murdered -- these targeted groups were thought to be "flawed", therefore being a defective fit in the "master race" [a.k.a., the "Aryan" race]. Though only Jews were gassed, thousands others died of starvation and disease; some were even subjected to cruel medical experiments, such as twins; some were shot by a firing squad; some were hung for hours by their arms, tied behind their backs, outside on wooden poles; some were stripped naked outside in the freezing cold winter with cold water from buckets poured onto them; some were forced to walk on death marches -- those who managed to stay alive the entire walk were forced into the sea and shot.

Also during WWII, Joseph Stalin was responsible for the mass execution of tens of millions of ordinary people in the Soviet Union - many were shipped onto boxcars and placed into forced labor camps, similar to the concentration camps used by Nazi Germany.

Also in the first half of the 20th century, the United States was very anti-Japanese after the bomb attack on Pearl Harbor - roughly about 110,000 Japanese-Americans were placed into "War Relocation Camps" all across the Pacific Coast. It was finally admitted by a legislation signed by President Reagan in 1988 that the reasons behind this were nothing short of "race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership".

A little more recently - in 1994, The Rwandan Genocide was all over the news. Many of us are old enough to at least remember the very basic details - roughly about 800,000 people were murdered in an ethnic fight between the [majority] Hutu and the [minority] Tutsi people.

Intolerance and hate crimes have been commonplace since the dawn of society, and many of us have read stories like the ones I have briefly cited above – and similar others – in their history books.

Is it only in history books?

Far from it:

• Canada: Make Human Rights a Priority [May 9, 2011]

• Honduras: Stop Efforts to Discredit Human Rights Prosecutors [May 31, 2011]

• Sudan: Stop Abyei Abuses, Hold Forces Accountable [May 26, 2011]

• Rwanda: Justice Compromised - Mixed Legacy for Community-Based Genocide Courts [May 31, 2011]

• Nigeria: President Should Make Rights a Priority [May 28, 2011]

• Saudi Arabia: Free Woman Who Dared to Drive [May 23, 2011]

• Israel: Investigate Killings During Border Protests [May 20, 2011]

• Liechtenstein: Say ‘Yes’ to Same-Sex Partnerships [May 25, 2011]

• Sri Lanka: Military Conference to Whitewash War Crimes [May 23, 2011]

Every single one of the above articles are all from Human Rights Watch [hrw.org] - just to mention a few very recent human rights issues going on all around the world right now.

Would you like to be forced into a religion? Would you like to be told where to live? Would you like to be tortured by a violent mob over your skin color and denied a fair trial? Would you like to be denied your voice when treated with injustice? Would you like your sister to? Would you like your mother and your father to? Would you like your 75-year old grandmother to? Would you like your children to?

What example are we setting?

What are we doing about it?

Believe it or not, we can do more than read about it, watch reports on the news, and complain about it. We can actually do something about it. Does this mean standing in front of tanks? Putting flowers in cops' guns? Setting yourself on fire in protest? Getting involved in riots and marches? It doesn't at all have to be anything that shocking and dangerous -- not at all! Whether you realize it or not, you can have a very powerful impact on the world around you. Yes, you. Your words, your actions, and the way that you simply live your life, can go so much farther than you may even imagine.

It's quite simply, really.

How tolerant are you of yourself?

Think about it for a moment: Do you set a bar so high for yourself, that you often fail to reach it? Do you put yourself down, or even hate yourself, for making mistakes in the past? Do you often compare yourself to others? Do you feel that you can never let your guard down around others, in case they ever see through you? Is it extremely important for you to be right all of the time?

You cannot be tolerant of others, if you cannot even be tolerant of yourself.

So learn to be okay with who you are - flaws, quirks, scars, fears, mistakes and all; remind yourself that it's okay to not be perfect. Accept that you are an ever-growing and ever-changing individual. Once you can accept yourself, it is much, much easier to be more accepting of others. Give yourself permission to not know something; to have made a bad decision; to be yourself; to simply live your life. You might very much surprise yourself with how much more liberated you feel, and the less anxious that you are, when you learn to let go of the hatred that you feel towards yourself for simply being a human being.

Isn't it nice knowing that you have room to falter?

Everyone should know that feeling.

With so many people in this world, we could all use a little more breathing room. Would you like your decisions and beliefs to be respected? Wish more people would stop telling you what to do? What to say? What to think? How to feel? -- there's a quote from Ghandi that I believe is famous: "Be the change that you wish to see in the world." This is where it starts. It starts with how we treat ourselves. It starts with how we treat our friends. It starts with how we treat our family. Are you sick of how cold and the violent the world can be? -- then help break the chain. You can make a difference -- what are you waiting for?

Break the chain.

Be the change.