Shirley Osborne

Tolerance is No Virtue: Ignorance, Appreciation, and the Human Story Shirley Osborne

This book tells us that we need neither tolerate ignorance and hatred, nor settle for this world dominated by violence and fear. It shows us how we can avert some tragedies and wars. Human beings are worthy of better, and better is possible, it promises, if we learn to appreciate the differences of form, purpose, and practice, that drive human development, and if we acknowledge that these are our only guarantee of survival. "Tolerance Is No Virtue: ignorance, appreciation, and the human story" investigates the means by which hatred and intolerance have come to seem so normal and reasonable in our world. It examines our common history of bigotry, and invites readers to rise above ignorance and fear by actively exploring and enjoying the wonders of our human miscellany. The fundamental premise of this book is that differences are to be sought out and celebrated. They are not to be merely tolerated. Similarities draw us together, and differences move us forward. Too often, the writer asserts, we focus on similarities, while we ignore, resist, or try to erase other people's differences, and consequently, inevitably, we end up in conflict, at war, often hating even our neighbors. Using the reasoning power that is our common birthright, and drawing on a practical wisdom that has often been our saving grace as a community of beings, the writer shows us how we can learn to truly appreciate the multiplicity that is the marvel of our condition as human individuals, and the very basis of our survival as a species. CHAR(13) + CHAR(10) Writing with a passion and a command of language that are infectious and powerful, she summons us to show some faith in the rightness of Reason, and in the power of our Humanity, the energy that drives the progress of the human race. We can avert other September 11ths, Shirley Osborne believes. This book can help us.