A Day On a Cali Campus: Tuan and Tolerance Idol

In the last post I talked about encountering Edgar who has made family the end goal of his life. One of the other students I met, Tuan, has made tolerance his end goal.

Jon, a Virginia Tech student, and I listened to Tuan talk about how much he appreciated Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, and so on. He tolerates all religions.

Tolerance is the air that post-modern students breathe. It sounds so good on the outside, but is one of the most destructive ideas on the college campus right now. Tolerance is the idea we should accept the beliefs or worldviews of everyone. It's the belief that there are many roads to heaven as well as many ways to live.

I told Tuan that tolerance at first glance seems like the most ultimate form of love. But, when you put tolerance through a “real life grid” its weaknesses are exposed. For example, if a father or mother does not have a worldview for his kids to grow up in, the family will fall apart. If every idea that the kids acted on was tolerated by the parents, it would end up bringing chaos to everyone's life. True love is shown when the kids are restricted to listening to and following their parent's wisdom. The way which seems narrow to the kids is actually the best way.

To use another example, if a patient has cancer and is in need of chemo or radiation, why would he/she want the doctor to tell them that there are other people out there with other alternatives – such as “positive thinking”? Would that be a loving thing to say or do? Of course not.

Christianity is amazing. It is the only religion in the world in which God came to the earth Himself to clear up the confusion on truth. He said, “I am the way.” This leads us not to speculation, but to revelation.

Yes, Jesus' message is narrow (exclusive), but it is also good news since it offered for everyone (inclusive). When we worship Jesus and trust in Him as the only way to salvation, it makes life much less confusing.

When every answer is right, no answer can be right. That's what tolerance promotes - a false sense of love by accepting everything. But in the process, everyone stays blind because no one has knows anything for sure.