by Mark Teo (Class 2023)

Note: This is a reaction to this post from the page Apologia: Christian Apologetics and Theology

Featured Image from: LemanBleu.ch

Honestly, this is a great example of the difference between tolerance and love.

Tolerance has no active component in it, it’s all about letting things be, despite these things not agreeing with your sensibilities.

Love, in its Christian definition, is different. It has an active component to it, to seek out and care for your fellow person, unconditionally.

This is probably why they tell us to “love thy neighbor” and not “tolerate thy neighbor.”

Love is the core principle that serves as the foundation of Christianity (Other than Peter, I guess). I believe it was the apostle John that made it very, very clear.

With the post lamenting over the irony of tolerance, this page delegates itself to a passive role, the victim of the story. Apologia sinks to the level of tolerance when the greatest good is to love others, even though they hurt you (in this case, vandalizing your wall).

Fine, I respect your opinion and I won’t brand it as “hate speech,” but this is still a contradiction to the most fundamental aspect of Christianity. What was done to this wall of history is definitely sad and undoubtedly wrong, but it’s also wrong to shy away from an opportunity to love and accept and, instead, bemoan our fate and wonder why, and I quote – “Everybody’s opinion is respected unless you’re a Christian.”

It may just be because of how central love is to this religion, yet we still make these kinds of posts.