> The Emperor summons before him Bodhidharma and asks: “Master, I have been tolerant of innumerable gays, lesbians, bisexuals, asexuals, blacks, Hispanics, Asians, transgender people, and Jews. How many Virtue Points have I earned for my meritorious deeds?”
> Bodhidharma answers: “None at all”.
> The Emperor, somewhat put out, demands to know why.
> Bodhidharma asks: “Well, what do you think of gay people?”
> The Emperor answers: “What do you think I am, some kind of homophobic bigot? Of course I have nothing against gay people!”
> And Bodhidharma answers: “Thus do you gain no merit by tolerating them!”
My point was that you gain no merit for tolerating them even if you did have something against them. Tolerance is not a virtue. There is virtue in having nothing against as many people as you can.
Sorry to keep quoting parts of the essay in here, but I think the essay puts it better than I would:
> To borrow Chesterton’s example, if you think divorce is a-ok, then you don’t get to “forgive” people their divorces, you merely ignore them. Someone who thinks divorce is abhorrent can “forgive” divorce. You can forgive theft, or murder, or tax evasion, or something you find abhorrent.
> I mean, from a utilitarian point of view, you are still doing the correct action of not giving people grief because they’re a divorcee. You can have all the Utility Points you want. All I’m saying is that if you “forgive” something you don’t care about, you don’t earn any Virtue Points.
> The Emperor summons before him Bodhidharma and asks: “Master, I have been tolerant of innumerable gays, lesbians, bisexuals, asexuals, blacks, Hispanics, Asians, transgender people, and Jews. How many Virtue Points have I earned for my meritorious deeds?”
> Bodhidharma answers: “None at all”.
> The Emperor, somewhat put out, demands to know why.
> Bodhidharma asks: “Well, what do you think of gay people?”
> The Emperor answers: “What do you think I am, some kind of homophobic bigot? Of course I have nothing against gay people!”
> And Bodhidharma answers: “Thus do you gain no merit by tolerating them!”