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Quote by: Jack  I'm not sure where this current "fear of offense" attitude came from but it's quite often a royal pain in the ass. Some call it Political Correctness, but it's being applied with wild abandon to the point where it's becoming absurd. It's beyond the political; it's invaded the courts, the workplace, even our homes.
I endorse complete toleration when the topic is a physical component of a person they were born with/inherited. I practice selective toleration when it comes to character, the part of a person for which they are largely responsible. I know this makes me vulnerable to being the subject of the selective toleration of others. That's OK. I am subject to my own standards.
Toleration also isn't permission to carry on with what you're doing. Just because I'm tolerant of the obese doesn't imply I think they should embrace their condition, celebrate it or not at least try to improve their health. Fat is unhealthy. There's no upside. Even smoking has an upside. Drinking beer has an upside. There's no upside to being fat. There's also no upside to being anorexic.
It's up to the individual to want to improve their health, you can't force them to do that. We don't need to spend more money each year making everyday life totally convenient for those suffering from the results of bad decisions. It's getting to where there are too many people in too small a space to accommodate everyone's personality. Being poor is still a greater challenge to face than weight.
If you are obese, until you start to change that, there are ways to dress and carry yourself that de-emphasize your weight. But you can't disguise the damage you're doing to your health. |
I agree with and admire your stance. However, I'm not sure I can be fully tolerant of everything that is inborn/inherited. What if, for example, pedophilia (the attraction to children itself, not criminal acts which might arise from it) is inborn, completely brain-based and involuntary? It would not make me any more empathetic towards people with such a sexual preference. I'd like to be a big enough person to say knowing someone had that preference would not influence how I felt about him as a person, but that would be a lie.
I know you were talking about being 100% tolerant of inborn physical characteristics, and I feel the same, but what about personality traits which are inborn? Should these be tolerated simply because they are involuntary? What if a fat person is fat because of a weakness to temptation which is an inherited personality trait?
I'm asking you because I haven't decided myself, and I'm hoping you have an answer I can use to make my decision.
