When tolerance becomes a ‘sin’

THE word tolerant has become the trendy word of this age and time. The word has been stretched beyond its limits to areas of life and is now threatening the very existence of mankind.

It means being liberal, broad minded and willing to put up with beliefs and values opposed to one’s convictions.

Tolerance is the compromise of one’s convictions and the allowance of something not wholly approved.

The over tolerance in moral issues in our society has made us immune, blind and devoid of conviction.

Therefore, we find that in many areas of our life we have allowed certain matters to flourish and take root because we have become permissive.

We have become tolerant of about the use of alcohol. Islam forbids the consumption of alcohol and most religions discourage it, and yet we have these alcoholic beverages being sold in sundry shops and convenience stores.

Many have voiced strongly against the government’s proposal to stop the sale of these drinks in sundry and convenience stores.

We have become tolerant to smoking. Smoking is bad and injurious to health and is the principal cause of respiratory problems and lung cancer.

It is linked to 16 types of cancer, 25 life threatening diseases and results in the death of 20,000 Malaysians each year.

We know the dangers of smoking and instead of limiting smoking zones we are giving them exclusive “No Smoking Zones” in restaurants and public places to smoke in.

We have become tolerant to speeding beyond the speed limit on our highways. We lose more than 6,000 lives on our roads yearly because we disobey the traffic regulations.

We have become tolerant to corruption in high places, of scammers cheating victims of their life savings. We have become tolerant of crimes and domestic abuse.

And finally, we have become tolerant to godlessness and unbelief which is the underlying reason why we have become what we have become – a permissive and fearless generation.

We need to get back to basics and set things right. We need to put our foot down on certain issues that we have taken for granted.

And we cannot hope to solve the social ills in our society without addressing these “sins” of tolerance.

Samuel Yesuiah
Seremban