Beyond the Tyranny of Tolerance
Making the case for diversity and freedom to those who oppose it
By S.N. and A.L
In 2012 a same-sex couple sued a bakery in Colorado for discrimination after the owner, a Christian man who believed that gay marriage is “sacrilegious”, refused to bake them a wedding cake. The owner is making his case to the Supreme Court on the grounds of freedom of expression and freedom of conscience. In 2016 a woman on a beach in Nice was forced to remove some of her clothing as several armed men stood around her. She was wearing an outfit similar to a “burkini”, a full-body swimsuit that has been banned in many beach resorts in France in the name of laïcité (secularism).
The debate can be broadly divided into two camps. On one side are those who believe that inequalities have been built into systems by a particular group. Sexual harassment has existed for years, but before the #MeToo movement accusations were rare, partly because abusers were in positions of power and could suppress victim’s voices. Same-sex marriage is revolutionary only because heterosexuals have defined marriage for centuries. There are few people of colour in academia in the West partly because entry tends to require social capital that favours white people. Advocates argue that legal protections are not enough when deeply ingrained…
