Tolerance is founded not on the idea that it is good that injustice be allowed, but rather on the idea that our own ability to define justice or goodness or truth is actually far more limited than many of us think. Tolerance is founded on the simple but essential form of intellectual modesty (and truthfulness!) that is willing to say, “but I could be wrong.” Tolerance flows from a recognition of our own fallibility as humans and an appropriate fear that we would act in the name of something we believe to be good only to discover, perhaps too late and after hurting others, that we were wrong. It is indeed one liberal virtue that we might call one of liberalism’s strong gods because it calls us to see glories and goodnesses that do not exist today but might one day come to fruition, if only we would bear with one another and patiently endure our disagreements as they exist amid our shared civic life. […]
The great object of your decisions made today should not simply be “What will satisfy me now?” but rather: “What will shape me so that I will be healthy and joyful in 50 years … or in 1,000 years?” Patience justifies the practice of mercy and tolerance because it recognizes that we ourselves will change with time, as will our neighbors. So, it is wise and good to give people space and opportunity to change organically in response to love and care and the ordinary happenings of life, rather than seeking to impose stringent and exacting demands on them as part of some doomed project of political perfectionism.
This, then, is how to argue for liberalism in an age of strong gods and agonistic politics: Do you wish to be healthy and easily capable of giving and receiving love decades from now? Then be patient. Do you desire to be like God? Show mercy. If you do not believe in God, do you desire to be free from resentment, bitterness, and anger? Do you desire to be free from the negative control exerted on you by the person you struggle to forgive? Then you too should be merciful. Do you hope that you and your family will have the chance to grow naturally across time toward health and maturity and belonging? Then practice toleration.