To be tolerant is essentially to respect others and their viewpoints even if we find them disagreeable. This is a reasonable request, up to a point. Would you be tolerant of someone trying to kill you? Rape you? Steal from you?

Given the above it seems logical that tolerance should not be applied universally, yet that is exactly what advocates of tolerance support. In order for tolerance to be applied without restriction, you must ignore the fact that not all people have good intentions.

Tolerance would not be such a toxic issue if it weren’t for this absolutist attitude. It is simply not intelligent to require tolerance of all people and all actions. Insisting on such behavior exposes people to potential harm or worse.

Mandating tolerance of all effectively mandates ignorance.