Tolerance

Tolerance

Goals

Tolerance

Group

If we should read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility -H.W. Longfellow

Opposition brings together and from discord comes perfect harmony -Heraclitus

You learn to love by loving ... Begin as a mere apprentice and the very power of love will lead you on to become a master in the art. -Francis of Sales

A human being is a part of the whole that we call the universe, a part of limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest -- a kind of optical illusion of his consciousness. This illusion is a prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for only the few people nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from the prisons by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living beings and all forms of nature. -Albert Einstein

As a mother at the risk of her life watches over her only child, so let everyone cultivate a boundlessly compassionate mind toward all beings -Buddha

I will be more compassionate and understanding of myself. I will begin by:

I will be more compassionate and accepting of others. I will begin by:

Identify a group you dislike or distrust?
(Need help? Flag bunners, welfare recipients, reactionary rednecks, politicians, rapists, homeless, the appathetic, self-righteous, skin heads.)

Geniuely try to see each group you checked as they might see themselves. List adjectives.

Try to list reasons they have taken their stances.

Is there a continuum of beliefs in this group? Try to identify it.

What would you have to change in your life if you felt as this group feels?

What would they have to change to see life as you see it?

Do belief systems make people intolerant?

How could you develop acceptance for this group of people?

ESE380 : The Class : Commander Troy : Pensive Pat : Tolerance

Address these same questions to the group member you like or admire the most.

Address them to the person with whom you feel the least comfortable.

Contrast the feelings and answers.

List the things that make it easier to "like" one person.

What goal could you set for yourself to increase tolerance?

Research (Lynch, et.al. 1992) suggests that getting to know those with whom we are intolerant makes us more accepting. Did you consider those dynamics in devloping a goal?

Loevinger's (1987) research on ego development suggests that maturity increases our ability to see what others see, to "walk a day in their moccasins" and thus to understand them. Does this impact your goal?

Once you have finished you should:

Go back to Lesson 2

E-mail J'Anne Ellsworth at Janne.Ellsworth@nau.edu