Page 988 - Week 03 - Thursday, 21 March 2019
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ability or willingness to tolerate the existence of opinions or behaviours that one dislikes or disagrees with, whereas acceptance, by definition, is the process or the fact of being received as adequate, valid or suitable, or agreement with or belief in an idea or explanation. The discourse concerning tolerance versus acceptance was never more obvious in this country than in the same-sex marriage debates across the nation in 2017.
We must do more than simply tolerate difference. We must accept it, to be a truly inclusive society. The difference adds value to who we are as the capital city of our nation. It adds value to the very fabric of our society, and our own Multicultural Festival is an example of that in action.
Last week’s horrific attack in Christchurch has served to strengthen my belief that all people must be valued equally. If we can agree on that principle then we cannot accept that it is okay to perpetuate this type of violence or any violence. We live in a society, and individual rights such as freedom of expression must not come at the expense of the rights of others to feel safe and to be free to go about their lives.
It is a tried and true aphorism that acceptance and inclusion start with individuals and, if one has a partner or children, at home. Any parent who has not felt frustration or anger with their own children is either a saint or a liar or has very, very poor memory. Whether it is a toddler drawing on the wall, a teenager in some sort of trouble, most parents have felt some sort of annoyance, anger or disappointment with their kids at some stage. What matters is not how we feel but how we react. Even when disciplining a child or withholding privilege or just being cross, parents overwhelmingly act out of love.
Similarly, I believe we all have the right to hold views that may be bigoted or sexist or racist, and on this I have to say I disagree with Mr Pettersson’s comments earlier today. I do not support thought control. I believe that we are free to think what we think and we are not always going to think calm, loving, compassionate thoughts. The point is, though, that while we may have thoughts which are not edifying it is not okay to act out those bigoted, sexist or racist thoughts. We cannot control what we think—and I think it should be regarded as okay to think—but it is just not okay to act out and promote those thoughts if they are divisive and they come from a place of hate.
Looking beyond home, the recent focus on both domestic and family violence and institutional sexual abuse has led to greater reporting and disclosure of crimes and more robust systems and legislation aimed at preventing further violence and abuse. There has been a national conversation about what we consider acceptable, and work has been done with a view to changing people’s behaviour. That work is still ongoing in the Assembly. The issue of consent is one example.
But change, whether to attitudes or behaviour, is possible at both an individual level and a societal level. Consider, for instance, littering. In the 1970s roadsides were often full of litter that had been chucked out of cars. But they are not any more. While smoking rates were declining in the early part of this century, there was a noticeable
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