Hypocrisy in the ranks of social activists

I would like to thank Alex Knapp, the author of "Not everyone who disagrees with you hates you" article, published in the December 5, 2000 issue. I would like to commend him on his perception of a disturbing social problem that has plagued our society for quite some time now. The tendency to put down those who accuse us of immorality, indecency, or other wrongdoings is ever-present in today's United States. We resemble a nation of teenagers revolting against their parents.

People, who find homosexuality, abortion, euthanasia, premarital sex, and various other issues morally wrong and unacceptable, are called homophobic, heartless, intolerant, and closed-minded bigots. Why? Why can't those who oppose them answer in a civil manner? The message of tolerance and open-mindedness that the liberal groups profess seems to disappear when they are dealing with the opposition. While that is not always the case with liberal activists, it seems to happen most of the time. I guess that tells us something about these members of our society.

I would love for somebody to explain to me what tolerance exactly is. How come our society tolerates (or, at least, is called on to tolerate) homosexuals, but not pedophiles? To use a quote from one of the articles that accused a student of being homophobic: "they just love differently." My point is this: once we get on the tolerance train, there's no telling how low we can go.