Professor Emmett is a professor at Michigan State University. His commentary was published in THE STATE NEWS: ‘Toleration is like honesty, or prudence, two other boring virtues. Imprudent behavior or lack of civility may, like intolerance, play well on Twitter or Snapchat, but they are destructive to a free society. Shouting down your opponent may feel heroic, but it inevitably leads to increased coercion and discrimination. The boring virtues, backed by recognition of our own fallibility, are essential to the life of a free society. And they are the backbone of academic freedom. Universities have become one of the hallmarks of free societies because they provide the intellectual freedom to explore any and all ideas to improve how we think about ourselves and the world around us. We can only do that if our initial stance is openness to others’ ideas, that is, to be tolerant.” Read more here.

Cover graphic courtesy of The Global Council for Tolerance and Peace.