Posted on 12/09/2004 8:47:19 PM PST by jwalburg
Twelve years ago, when the four policemen implicated in the beating of Rodney King were acquitted, a riot erupted in Los Angeles, a riot that eventually took the lives of 54 people and caused more than $1 billion in damage. In the midst of all this, an obviously anguished King asked his now-famous question, "Why can't we all just get along?"
Disturbed by the increasing political and social tensions of American society, the more moderate among us are echoing King's question, wondering why it is that we can't somehow figure out how to get along better, how to end some of our negativity, and how to be a bit more tolerant of those who disagree with us.
Well, it's just not all that simple. G. K. Chesterton once called tolerance the easy virtue, and, to a certain extent, he was right. But there is what philosophers call the paradox of tolerance, and the irony is that not even the greatest champions of tolerance manage to actually be tolerant with any great consistency.
In his Essay on Toleration, for instance, the English philosopher John Locke advances one of the most impressive cases ever made for religious freedom - and follows it up with a bigoted, irrational explanation of why Catholics are an exception and can't be extended the same toleration as other denominations.
Likewise, 19th century liberals, theoretically great advocates of toleration, were often, in practice, anti-religious bigots, hating especially the Catholic church, but disliking also any but the most undogmatic sorts of Protestantism. And when the charismatic Pope Pius IX inspired a renewal of Catholic confidence and pride, liberals everywhere in Europe went in conniptions, aghast at the resurgence of a faith they had regarded as dying if not dead.
When Otto Von Bismarck engineered the creation of the German nation in 1871, he used liberal fear of religion to his advantage. Bismarck won the liberals over in large part by adopting a deliberate anti-ecclesiastical policy, launching what came to be called the Kulturkampf - cultural war.
Bismarck began by limiting the role of the church in the educational system, placing even religious schools under the supervision of government officials. Further legislation placed marriage outside the jurisdiction of the church as well, and only government-approved clergymen could perform weddings. A series of pulpit laws allowed the prosecution and imprisonment of clergymen who criticized the administration of the state. Bismarck then began a wholesale dismantling of the Catholic Church, closing more than 1,000 monasteries, confiscating millions of dollars of church property, taking complete control of Catholic schools, and expelling members of many religious orders altogether. And German liberals, those staunch champions of tolerance, applauded enthusiastically at the apparent destruction of the faith they despised.
But Bismarck's plan backfired. Politically fired-up Catholics soon had twice as many representatives as before in the Landtag (the German parliament). Seeing that his anti-ecclesiastical policies only increased tension and made Germany less united, Bismarck eventually decided to reverse course. He made peace with the church, and, in the end, secured the help and support of many Catholics.
But the damage was done. The political hatreds aroused by the Kulturkampf made the establishing of a stable democracy far more difficult for the Germans than it would have been otherwise, and it was only after two world wars and a brutal dictatorship that liberals and committed Catholics could cooperate enough to make democracy work.
The truth of the matter is that Catholics in Germany were never the anti-democratic hobgoblins liberal thinking made them. Since they were a minority, a pluralistic, tolerant society was much to their advantage, and they were more than ready to be tolerant on their part. All they asked was some tolerance in return. The right to speak out on political issues. The right to run their own institutions as they saw fit. The right to determine how their children would be educated.
Too much to ask? Well, then, it's easy enough to see exactly why we can't all just get along.
Art Marmorstein, Aberdeen, is a professor of history at NSU. His column runs occasionally. The views presented are those of the author and do not represent those of Northern State University.
All those #@#@%%@ #$@$%%heads who want me to be tolerant can go #$@% themselves up their $#@%#@%#@ing @#$%@!
Tolerance is overrated. It'd be better if people just didn't expect everyone else to act like their **** doesn't stink.
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