Let them be as they are

We need to promote greater tolerance and understanding
among the peoples of the world.  Nothing can be more
dangerous to our efforts to build peace and development
than a world divided along religious, ethnic or cultural lines.
In each nation, and among all nations, we must work
to promote unity based on our shared humanity.   -Kofi Annan


What a shame it is that we've become a nation filled with intolerant people.  We hate each other, we get angry at each other, we shame and mock each other, simply because we disagree about certain things, or we believe in certain things, or our skin happens to be of a different color than someone else's.  Sometimes it makes me sad, and sometimes it makes me sick to witness the terrible ways that we treat each other so often.

We must accept each other and help each other.  We have to cooperate with each other if we're going to improve our lives and our world.  We need to teach our young people to work with each other rather than fight against each other.  When we're intolerant, we're putting ourselves and our views and our beliefs on a pedestal and telling anyone who disagrees with us that they're wrong, even though the truth is that there's a good chance that we're the ones who are wrong.

What kind of world are we building to pass on to our young people if it's a world based on intolerance?  What are we teaching them when we model intolerant views and ideas?  How can we say that we love our fellow people when in practice we don't allow them to have their views and beliefs without judging them harshly for those views and beliefs?

Let's make this world a better place, and accept others for who they are without trying to change them, for what they believe without telling them they're wrong, for what they stand for without telling them that they should stand for something else.  Let's create a world of love and understanding rather than resentment and intolerance, for the sake of everyone.