Virtue-Tolerance “Tolerance is giving to every other human being every right that you claim for yourself.”—Robert Green Ingersoll “The test of courage comes when we are in the minority. The test of tolerance comes when we are in the majority.”‐‐‐
Ralph W. Sockman The Law 1. We must have religious tolerance: “We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.” Article of Faith 11 2. Tolerance has its limits. It does not mean abandoning our standards or opinions. Now may I offer an important note of caution. An erroneous assumption could be made that if a little of something is good, a lot must be better. Not so! Overdoses of needed medication can be toxic. Boundless mercy could oppose justice. So tolerance, without limit, could lead to spineless permissiveness. ‐‐‐‐Russell M. Nelson 
In short, we preach unity among the community of Saints and tolerance toward the personal differences that are inevitable in the beliefs and conduct of a diverse population. Tolerance obviously requires a noncontentious manner of relating toward one another’s differences. But tolerance does not require abandoning one’s standards or one’s opinions on political or public policy choices. Tolerance is a way of reacting to diversity, not a command to insulate it from examination. Dallin H. Oaks, Ensign, Jan 2001, p 17 3. We should celebrate unity in the church, not diversity. Our Church has an approach to the obvious cultural and ethnic diversities among our members. We teach that what unites us is far more important than what differentiates us. Consequently, our members are asked to concentrate their efforts to strengthen our unity—
not to glorify our diversity. For example, our objective is not to organize local wards and branches according to differences in culture or in ethnic or national origins, although that effect is sometimes produced on a temporary basis when required because of language barriers. Instead, we teach that members of majority groupings (whatever their nature) are responsible to accept Church members of other groupings, providing full fellowship and full opportunities in Church participation. We seek to establish a community of Saints—“one body,” the Apostle Paul called it (1 Corinthians 12:13)—where everyone feels needed and wanted and where all can pursue the eternal goals we share. ‐‐‐Dallin H. Oaks 4. Tolerance means disagreeing with respect and civility. 
“We must work harder to build mutual respect, an attitude of forbearance, with tolerance one for another regardless of the doctrines and philosophies which we may espouse. Concerning these you and I may disagree. But we can do so with respect and civility.” ‐‐‐Gordon B. Hinckley 5. Diversity must not be used as a euphemism for moral relativism. 
Strong calls for diversity in the public sector sometimes have the effect of pressuring those holding majority opinions to abandon fundamental values to accommodate the diverse positions of those in the minority. Usually this does not substitute a minority value for a majority one. Rather, it seeks to achieve “diversity” by abandoning the official value position altogether, so that no one’s value will be contradicted by an official or semi‐official position. The result of this abandonment is not a diversity of values but an official anarchy of values. I believe this is an example of former Brigham Young University visiting professor Louis Pojman’s observation that diversity can be used as “a euphemism for moral relativism.” ‐‐‐‐Dallin H. Oaks Antonyms 1. Bigotry: stubborn and complete intolerance of any creed, belief, or opinion that differs from one's own. 2. Prejudice: an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason