Tolerance Without Limits

The bridge to disagreement or to understanding?

Every time I watch the news, I find myself increasingly shocked by what our society is turning into. I was born in 1978, so you could say I’m a child of Spain’s first democratic constitution.

I’ve heard countless stories from my grandmother about what she and her generation went through during their childhood — things so harsh I can hardly imagine how a child could grow up under such conditions.

And yet, despite those hardships, I can tell you one thing with certainty: my grandmother’s generation, and even my own, grew up learning the values of tolerance and acceptance.

Those values weren’t just pleasant ideas; they were essential tools for survival and coexistence in a world that had witnessed the dangers of division and extremism up close.

So, in today’s blog, I want to talk about this word that many of us may have even forgotten about. I like to see tolerance as a bridge that connects two different points which would otherwise remain separated. And like a bridge, it doesn’t force the terrain on either side to change shape — the bridge simply makes passage and connection possible. It builds a path of understanding and acceptance.

“Tolerance is not about agreeing with everything, but about allowing understanding to flow without destroying what is different.”

Tolerance is not the same as approval

Remember that to tolerate doesn’t mean to accept everything as good, but to understand that what’s different is not necessarily a threat.

I’m seeing so much anger, which I assume comes from fear — the fear of the unknown, the inability to understand that being different or thinking differently is not good or bad.

Ask yourself: how do we respond to fear — with dialogue or with aggression?

Many of us think that disagreeing with others is a sign of intolerance, but I’d like to remind you that tolerance has levels:

Intolerance ←→ Critical tolerance ←→ Unlimited tolerance

“I can tolerate that you think differently, but not that you use your beliefs to justify violence or exclusion.”

Social media: loudspeaker or trench?

If you follow me, you might have noticed that I’ve reduced my presence on social media. The main reason is what these platforms have brought out in people.

Social platforms often amplify intolerance. You can see it in almost any post or comment — how we’ve moved from expressing opinions to attacking people simply because we can, and how anonymity and algorithms reinforce bubbles of single-minded thinking and rude behaviour.

We are not aware of the damage this is causing to our younger generations — how insecure these young people are becoming. Out of fear and insecurity, they accept any comment or opinion without even trying to think for themselves.

Tolerance starts in the everyday

But we can all help to build tolerance in the world. Through everyday acts — just small ones: letting someone speak, listening without interrupting, living alongside those who are different. Expressing our opinions without fear, defending our views without imposing them.

Ask yourself: how do we react when someone thinks or lives differently? Does it make us nervous, uncomfortable, fearful, disgusted?

Just stop for a second and think about your last conversation with a work colleague or a close friend. Do you react differently depending on whether you know the person or not?

What if we were all the same?

Have you ever thought about what would happen if we all had the same ideas, tastes, and ways of living? Would that be a society, or just an infinite mirror?

The paradox of tolerance

In a society that values freedom and openness, tolerance is often seen as a virtue — and rightly so. But can we really tolerate everything, without limits?

I’d like to bring your attention to the philosopher Karl Popper, who raised a powerful and uncomfortable idea:

“Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance.”

Popper’s warning, known as the paradox of tolerance, tells us that if a tolerant society tolerates intolerance itself — ideologies or actions that seek to suppress others — then the intolerant will dominate, and tolerance will be destroyed from within.

You might be thinking: why is this important?

Let me clarify. In my view, it’s because intolerance is rarely passive.

It doesn’t just ask for a seat at the table — it often tries to flip the table over.

Intolerant ideologies, whether political, religious, or social, often work by silencing, excluding, or attacking those who are different.

If we allow these voices to grow unchecked in the name of “free expression” or “equal opinion”, we risk normalising hate, endangering vulnerable communities, and undermining democratic values and human rights.

So, if you go deeper into this thought, tolerance must draw healthy boundaries. It must protect our freedom of thought — but not incitement to violence. It must promote diversity of opinion — but not dehumanisation. And it should create spaces for open debate — but not systems that aim to eliminate debate altogether.

So, where’s the balance?

This doesn’t mean silencing disagreement or becoming authoritarian. It means being clear-eyed about the difference between disagreement and hatred, critique and attack, difference and danger.

A healthy society should not tolerate the intolerant by offering them a platform, but it should respond with resilience — using law, education, and civic courage to prevent the erosion of coexistence.

So I encourage you to speak up, to act, to stand firm. Don’t confuse bigotry with “just another opinion”. Speak up when you see hate disguised as free speech. Defend others’ rights — and your own — by challenging ideas that seek to erase them.

Tolerance must be defended, not just practised

In a world that’s growing louder and more divided, it’s easy to confuse tolerance with indifference, or freedom with passivity. But allow me to say that true tolerance is not about staying silent in the face of injustice — it’s about standing firm for the kind of world where everyone has the right to exist, to speak, and to be heard without fear.

We can build tolerance through our daily actions and create our own protective shell, but we must also be realistic and defend our opinions and decisions.

True tolerance means protecting a space where everyone can live freely — not giving a megaphone to those who would silence others.

It takes courage to hold that line. It means knowing when to listen, when to speak up, and when to say “enough”. It means defending the dignity of others, even — and especially — when it’s uncomfortable.

Tolerance is not weakness. It’s strength with compassion, freedom with responsibility, and peace built on justice.

If we want a better society, we can’t just hope for it — we have to build it. And that starts with choosing respect over fear, empathy over hate, and courage over silence.

My husband wrote me a quote today that inspired this blog, and I’ll leave it here for you:

“Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid.”