When Tolerance Attacks! (August '07)

You all know what I'm talking about...when you want to finish off that twelve pack, but instead you pass out in a heap on the laundry room floor because your body just couldn't keep up.

Alright, that's not at all what I'm talking about, but if we don't get silly once in a while this won't be any fun for any of us.

What I AM talking about is this bit of silliness that's been kicking around the blogs and B-level news agencies for a few days.

I've taken this from http://news.scotsman.com/edinburgh.cfm?id=1275192007

NHS staff told to eat away from desks for Ramadan

HOSPITAL staff in the Lothians have been told not to eat at their desks to avoid offending Muslim colleagues during Ramadan.

NHS Lothian has advised doctors and other health workers not to have working lunches during the 30-day fast, which begins next month.

The health service's Equality and Diversity Officer sent an e-mail to all senior managers, giving guidance on religious tolerance.

This includes ensuring Muslim staff are given breaks to pray, and time off to celebrate Eid at the end of Ramadan.

It is understood they also advised hospital managers to move food trolleys away from areas where Muslims work.

An NHS spokesman said he could not confirm what was in the e-mail.

Jim McCaffery, director of acute services and workforce at NHS Lothian, said: "This e-mail was circulated to a number of senior managers as we continue to promote cultural awareness in our organisation."

But the move has angered many doctors and politicians, who say it is taking religious tolerance too far.

Bill Aitken, Scottish Conservative justice spokesman, was reported as saying: "Frankly, this advice, well meaning as it may be, is total nonsense.

"This is the sort of thing that can stir up resentments rather than result in good relations."


Now, this was unfortunately not a huge surprise, nor has this kind of church/state relationship been limited to the UK. After all, many of us probably still remember when public schools only served fish or cheese pizza on Fridays. Just like this Scottish case, it wasn't a law, just a strongly encouraged position.

So my problem isn't with the fact that this is a pro-Islamic corporate suggestion, nor is my problem the fact that they are messing with lunch--although any authoritarian meddling with food does not sit well with me.

My problem is that this is yet another case of "organizational authority" trying to push a certain morality upon the average citizen. When Bush references God in a speech, or the congress starts a session with prayer, there is a big flap about "the separation of church and state." When a law that addresses sexual practices is discussed, there is a big debate about "legislating morality," but when a laws are passed that literally makes it a crime to call someone a mean name, there is almost no backlash.

And I guess that's a whole different problem.

In any case, tolerance should be taught within the home, and when it isn't taught, or isn't taught properly, people should be able to work it out on their own--you know, like people have had to for generations.

I remember being a kid in public school in Rhode Island. I saw T-Shirts that said things like:

"Silly rabbit, Trips are for kids!" (showing the Trix Rabbit and a bunch of mushrooms)

"Silly Faggot, Dicks are for chicks!" (also showing the Trix rabbit, but no penises)

"Pave the Bay" (a pro-skater shirt that riffed off the environmental movement)

Countless shirts with pentagrams, upside down crosses, and anti-Christian slogans

Torn and upside down American flag patches (SK people, think O.J.)

Foxy Lady shirts (a strip club), Big Johnson Shirts, I got the Crabs at... shirts, and about a thousand other sex-related and supposedly "misogynistic" shirts.

And those were just the shirts. Most of us used what would now be termed "hate speech" on a daily basis as part of our regular conversation. There was almost never any hatred or even ill will involved. We just engaged in a lot of verbal jousting and enjoyed making fun of each other--which, along with sarcasm, is a proud Yankee tradition.

You know what we did when something offended us? We ignored it. In the most extreme cases, we said something about it to the person who was bothering us. To my knowledge, the only action the administration ever took was to make the kid wearing the "silly faggot..." shirt turn it inside out for the day and promise not to wear it again. In short, they applied a sensible and reasonable approach, thereby finding a decent and appropriate solution to the problem, and that was the last we heard of it.

Today, kids can face suspension, expulsion, and even legal charges for wearing and saying the things we wore and said as a matter of course.

Is that progress?

You know, when the current administration taps phone lines to listen to your Aunt Edna talk about her gout, that's considered invasive government and a step towards totalitarianism--and rightly so!

So why is charging a child under hate crimes laws for saying a naughty word considered responsible legislation?

Alright, I've been rambling for a while and I'm not even sure how I got from Ramadan and lunches to offensive t-shirts and "hate speech" laws.

The fact is, I'm sick of government and corporate interference in our daily lives, and I know I'm not alone. Some might argue that the lunch thing in Scotland is just a suggestion. Well, those who have worked in corporate environments know damned well what happens when you ignore "suggestions" from on high. You get Shanghaied by the HR goons, and the next thing you know, you're out on your backside with a bad reference.

This isn't even addressing the fact that this is a medical environment, and many of the professionals are eating lunch at their workstations because they don't have time to go take lunch elsewhere.

Tolerance and mutual respect are probably good thing overall. Government and corporate interference in our lives is pretty much always a bad thing. Mix them together, and it's a very, very, very bad thing.

We didn't arrive in 1984 by accident, people, and it sure as hell wasn't only a conservative agenda that got us here. Maybe it's time to wake up, and trade government authority for personal responsibility.