News Archive
Should we tolerate it?
Tolerance is often demanded of Christians, but not always given back in return. I attended a ‘Diversity Awareness’ workshop this week because one of the companies I work for is keen to make its employees more tolerant of each other. We talked a lot about ethnicity and sexual orientation. We role-played scenarios which brought out more latent prejudices about people who work part-time or go home on time to pick up their kids. But during the course of the two-hour workshop it struck me that Christians are still seen as fair game for jokes and discrimination.
Tolerance is often demanded of Christians, but not always given back in return. I attended a ‘Diversity Awareness’ workshop this week because one of the companies I work for is keen to make its employees more tolerant of each other. We talked a lot about ethnicity and sexual orientation. We role-played scenarios which brought out more latent prejudices about people who work part-time or go home on time to pick up their kids. But during the course of the two-hour workshop it struck me that Christians are still seen as fair game for jokes and discrimination.
I find that when I tell people I’m a Christian, they make all sorts of incorrect assumptions about what I believe on a variety of subjects from homosexuality to science. In my workplace at least, Christians are, by and large, tarred with the same brush as George Bush and the right-wing conservative Christian lobby in the US - and therefore regarded as legitimate targets for prejudiced and unfounded comments.
A couple of times during yesterday's workshop, people used the name of Jesus to express their surprise at something. I know they didn't mean anything by it, but it still made me feel uncomfortable. And as we were told, it’s not the intention that matters, but the offence caused.
Similarly, one of the questions raised during yesterday's workshop was "Surely you couldn't employ a creationist as a science editor?" and many people laughed in agreement.
Now, I don't know an awful lot about creation, evolution or science, but what I do know is that the job of a journalist is to report the news in as impartial and fair a way as possible, leaving aside any views or opinions they might hold on the subject. So why shouldn't a creationist be considered for the job of science editor?
I didn't have the guts to say this during the workshop, but I reckon it’s time Christians demanded more tolerance from those who call us intolerant.