Blog Post #3: Eight Values of Free Expression: Promote Tolerance

      The value of Free Expression that I connect with the most is that of promoting tolerance. Tolerance is the willingness to accept behaviors and beliefs that are different from your own, although you might not agree with or approve of them. This is a significant thing to remember when considering the first amendment and how we all have to coexist even if we do not always agree. Tolerance is something that a lot of people in the world need to work on because a lot of things are happening and have happened, which shows that a lot of people do not understand this concept. Being able to accept others for their beliefs even if you do not personally share those beliefs is an essential thing for a person to be able to do. There are a lot of times when there is a divide between people because they can not accept a particular part of another person's behavior and beliefs. 

    I believe that tolerance brings about a certain amount of respect that is really needed, especially dealing with topics. I found an article that talked about the theory of tolerance. In this article, they talk about an experiment that they ran to see the effect of tolerance on the evolution of tolerance over the years. The experiment concluded that tolerance was a socially desirable thing with multiple benefits. 

    One topic that I think shows, why tolerance is so important is abortion. With recent developments, abortion has become a country-wide topic of discussion again, so where does tolerance fit into the discussion? I think it fits in with regard to the fact the way one person feels about abortion is not the way another needs to feel about abortion. There are people who are religious and think that abortion is an awful thing and that is okay. There are people who think abortion is wrong, and they do not follow a religion, which, again, is okay. There are people who think abortion is fine, and once again, that is okay. In each of these cases, there are people who believe one way about the topic of abortion, and all of them are within their rights to believe what they want, but the problem comes when they try to force their belief on another person. The idea of promoting tolerance supports the fact that each person is entitled to their own belief and should not be forced to agree with another person. That is what a person looking at this should realize, that even if they do not agree with what the person believes that it is that person's beliefs, and they should leave it at that.

    I think overall, tolerance is a very important thing for everyone to remember when it comes to the First Amendment. The First Amendment gives people the right to say what they want, and tolerance is when others remember that they can not limit a person's freedom of speech because they do not agree with what the person is saying.