The Press Junior THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1933. Tolerance and Charity

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22507, 15 September 1938, Page 4 (Supplement)

The Press Junior THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1933. Tolerance and Charity

Here are two words, tolerance and charity, widely misused by MB. They- are commonly heard in trams and trains and buses, in the entrances to churches, and in plwx where men and women are met for friendly conversation; they are both read frequently in books and magazines and dally newspapers.' Yet they are rarely accompanied, in speech, .by words and gestures and tones of voice fitting.their Intrinsic meaning; and they are not often written in contexts most suitable to them. Tolerance, says the dictionary, is forbearance; charity, the Christian love of fellow men, Jcrndncss, and imputing good motives when possible. Now if tolerance is forbearance and charity kindness, then the frequency with which these words are heard and seen might lead a stranger to this universe to think the world we live In a very enviable place. If all the people who claim to be tolerant really are tolerant, and all those who claim to be charitable are kindly and ready to “impute good motives when possible,” there must be a great deal more warmth and friendliness in this world of many colours and creeds and nations than we commonly feel. And is the power of such .warmth and friendliness is not everywhere manifest, it seems probable that there is a mistake somewhere. For this Is certainly true: wherever there is real tolerance and charity, forbearance and kindliness, the power of those qualities will make itself felt. But wherever tolerance is thought to mean merely the deliberate blinding of eyes to unpleasant things, and wherever charity is thought of merely as alms giving or -material generosity, there most surely wifi be a contradiction and a destruction of the true qualities indicated by these words. The age of political and religious intolerance and persecution is usually thought of as ending 200 or so years ago: and the many customs of alms giving -on certain days are now generally regarded as superstitious. Blit stilly as. everyone who reads a newspaper knows, there is bitter and cruel persecution and intolerance making daily misery among at least six different sets of peoples in the world—the two factions in Spain, the Arabs and the Jews in Palestine, the Aryans and the Jews in Central Europe, and the Chinese and Japanese in the east—and still there are people who consider their charitable obligations fulfilled for the year if they put a piece of money In a street collection box. There Is a different tolerance and there is a different charity. Both have power to increase and extend warmth and kindness far beyond She places of their origin. It is not illogical to think of a possible universal peace built up ftoa Individual tolerance and