“Tolerance isn’t about not having beliefs. It’s about how your beliefs lead you to treat people who disagree with you.”

Over the years, I have struggled with the word ‘tolerance’—a common buzzword in popular culture. Often, I believe its meaning is equated with the idea that no one should claim truth, because believing one thing is true typically means that you are simultaneously claiming an alternative belief is not true. Because it is inherently offensive to believe, ‘I am right and you are wrong,’ our culture idealizes relativism. However, this quote conveys what is, to me, an important concept—that tolerance means loving and respecting those who do not share our beliefs, as opposed to simply refusing to adhere to any truth or firm set of values.