Intolerable intolerance

Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one's own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others.

John F. Kennedy

Many have opinions about how other people should behave. Although it might be irritating, trying to convince people to change their ways it isn't a problem. It is a problem, though, when one person uses the government to stop other people from engaging in peaceful, cooperative behavior.

Couldn't happen in Canada, you say? Yes it could. A complaint from just one person is enough to ban kite flying in parks, close down lemonade stands and force dogs out of bookshops. Intolerance is on the rise and is supported by government.

For instance, the phrase "go fly a kite" has taken on a literal meaning in Ontario -- no kite flying in a park. In a truly mind-boggling example of littering law enforcement, a bylaw officer shut down kite flying in a Toronto park because a city worker complained about the kite string getting caught in trees and city equipment. However, if kite flyers are told to get lost, who's next? Quite frankly, this type of heavy-handedness is intolerable in a free society and should be condemned.

Instead of shutting down what any reasonable person would consider normal behavior in a park, the city government should have curbed the intolerant city worker. The government could have quoted the Rolling Stones song and said, in a free society, "You can't always get what you want." So far, however, in the battle between kite flyers and one city worker, the city worker has the upper hand.

This intolerable overkill isn't restricted to Ontario. We have similar narrow-mindedness right here in B.C.

In Port Coquitlam, a bylaw officer shut down the lemonade stand of two 12-year-old boys because the boys didn't have a business license. According to Port Coquitlam Councillor Glenn Pollock, the city would probably have “looked the other way,” except one person complained. Public parks are for all members of the public, not just those who seem to have some pre-defined view of who belongs in a public park. However, in the struggle between one intolerant park user and little kids in Coquitlam, it seems intolerance, with the help of government, gets the upper hand.

Even dogs get shafted by the intolerant. In Victoria, a petty tyrant took her toll at the Herald Street Books and Coffee shop. Bubba, a Jack Russell terrier, delighted customers for three years before one person complained. After that, poor Bubba was left to languish at home alone. In this case, the more tolerant among us should have pointed out not everyone has the same opinion about dogs in cafes. However, here as well, the tyrant got the upper hand.

Should people tolerate everything? No, it is OK to criticize someone's behavior and open up a discussion about it. However, it is not OK for one person to use the power of government to force other people to behave according to their definition of the good and the right.

So what behavior should be condemned? Selling lemonade, flying a kites, and sipping lattes with dogs, or using the power of government to shut those peaceful activities down? The answer to the question seems clear.  Using the power of government to force other people to bow down to prejudices is unacceptable in a free and democratic society. If you don't want to clean kite wire out of trees, find another job; if you don't like lemonade, don't buy it; and if you don't like dogs in cafes, don't go to cafés with dogs.

Many people seem to be losing their ability to 'live and let live' and are using the government to impose their dictates on others. If this continues, it will pit neighbor against neighbor and eventually no one's freedom of action will be safe. So if you trip over some kite wire in a park, pick it up and put it into the trash then write a letter to the editor or call in to a local radio show to let people know that littering is wrong. Tolerance of other peoples' behaviors, attitudes and dreams shows a respect for each person's autonomy over their own life. We must all re-discover the virtue of tolerance.