Tolerance requires open debate, not closed minds
Julia Gillard speaking at the lanch of the Australian Multicultural Council (AMC) and a new local ambassadors program to champion inclusion and highlight the benefits of Australia’s diversity. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) TOLERANCE has often been a clarion call for the liberal left, but a creeping intolerance in political debate is emerging most fiercely from, of all people, progressives. (The Australian) Those politicians, activists and organisations who seek social change should be especially aware of the need for a plurality of views in open debate. How else to seek progressive change if you are not prepared to hear, discuss and, perhaps, overcome prevailing attitudes? Trying to shout down the status quo or prevent conservative voices from being heard is no way to show respect for mainstream values, much less win people over. We raise this at the end of a week in which Julia Gillard cancelled a speaking engagement with the Australian Christian Lobby because she disagr