On open-mindedness and tolerance

"Be more open minded." I hear this a lot. While I'm sure this isn't surprising to a lot of you, I still think that I have an interesting perspective on open-mindedness, tolerance and even the acceptance of diversity, and I would encourage you to consider it with me.

Let me begin by presenting what I perceive to be the positives of open-mindedness. I think that being open minded allows you to relate better with people in general, particularly those of opposing viewpoints. This is always a good thing. I also think that by understanding other people's viewpoints, you tend to know more about them, and gaining knowledge is usually considered to be a good thing. Knowing more about the "other side" also helps sympathize with people from different walks of life. Accordingly, it also lessens, or should lessen your pride about your own view. Nobody likes to admit that they are wrong, but by taking some time to understand and appreciate different perspectives, it can often times be a very humbling experience, particularly to those of us who tend toward ethnocentrism.

It is obvious that being considerate of and compassionate toward other ideas is a good thing, but there are some accompanying negatives. Often times those demanding tolerance of other people are some of the most intolerant people themselves. This tends to hold true with those from minorities who assume that majority perspectives are wrong, or that those who follow the majority belief have not thought for themselves and are supposedly brainwashed into following the majority. This is not always the case, but I would encourage you to look for any hypocrisy in your demand for tolerance. Another negative that I see is that many people are so tolerant of every idea and every perspective that they literally hold no belief themselves (yet are quick to judge those who do). I think that it is important to live off of some ideal and to view the world from a particular vantage point. Of course for some, there must be moments where no particular belief is held because they are still searching. Some people, however, hold no particular belief but are swayed about by every trend that comes their way. A somewhat crass warning that I often give is that it's a good thing to be open minded, but not to the point of allowing your brains to fall out.

What I am trying to get at is that it is important to be considerate of other people's beliefs, but it is possible to do so while holding beliefs of your own. I try extremely hard to not think of myself as better than anyone else (because I am not). However, it is possible to not be better than someone but to be more correct than them. Again, nobody likes to think that they are wrong, but would you consider that you might be? That is my challenge in this. Most will put forth this same challenge without applying the principle in their own life. This challenge goes for everyone, but particularly for those who were or are being raised under a particular belief (like I was with Christianity).

The approach I am taking is to learn opposing viewpoints and either using it to strengthen or change my beliefs. My faith in God is incredibly strong because I have seen what He can do in my own life. I feel that this is my world view, which means that everything I do is done through this belief - the Bible is like a figurative pair of glasses to me. I have complete confidence in this approach. How then am I being open-minded? I listen to, I study to, I sympathize with, and I delay judgment on other people. I am trying to understand where people are coming from and why they believe what they believe. I would ask you to challenge yourself with these two questions. For those of you who are searching for a belief, I would invite you to also read some of my other blogs (of course I invite everyone else to do this, too), which expand on my beliefs. For those of you set in your ways, I would invite you to at least do what I am doing; be understanding of and respect why someone might feel the way they do. Be open minded, but develop a belief that you can live your life by. Postpone judgment on others, but don't be afraid to stand up for your beliefs. Preach tolerance, but walk the walk.