Ren Allen

I believe Leo answered this in another post:

"I don't have relationships with all the other people I
disagree with."


This is the saddest thing I've read so far.
I guess that just sums it all up doesn't it.

Today, we are going to Earth day activities with a good friend of
ours. She is a devout Christian, supports president Bush and the
Bible. We totally, completely disagree and we both know it. But we
love each other like sisters. She doesn't try to change me, and I
don't try to change her, we ACCEPT each other with all our glorius
differences and focus on the things we both love...which is a lot.

We're meeting up with other unschoolers downtown, one family very
new age, another Mom is atheist with children that range from belief
in paranormal to one that leans to Buddhist. Our homeschool group is
immensely diverse. We have friends that are public school
supporters, one great friend I have is a teacher. She's also a total
hippy mama and I love her dearly. The kids that hang out with us are
mostly public schooled, they also happen to be mostly African
American. I have friends that are ardent vegans, non-violent, new
age types. I have friends that are conservative, friends that range
from lawyers to doctors to artists to writers and those that serve
in the military. One of our favorite unschool families is serving in
Turkey right now, adamantly opposed to Bush and the war, yet serving
in the military and living joyful unschooling lives.

The point?
My life and my childrens lives are extremely rich because of the
diverse group of friends we have. My children have learned to try
and see issues from many different viewpoints. They are very
comfortable around MANY types of people with all their varying
beliefs.
We learn so much from all these diverse friendships. Another cool
thing is when a topic comes up, we always have a friend to call to
get more information. From metal sculpture to tie dye, to computer
programming, laws, medical information and building. We can easily
join drumming circles, visit the EPA, record music in a studio or
get help with our computer. That's just a small sampling of the
skills that our friendships surround us with.

Tolerance is important.
I don't tolerate idiocy or stupidity very well. But I can tolerate
other views, as long as they aren't trying to shove something down
my throat repeatedly.
It would behoove you to learn tolerance for your child's sake.

Ren

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In a message dated 4/17/04 11:02:52 AM, starsuncloud@... writes:

<<

Tolerance is important.

I don't tolerate idiocy or stupidity very well. But I can tolerate

other views, as long as they aren't trying to shove something down

my throat repeatedly. >>

I guess Leonor's problem was that she defined everyone else as stupid, or an
idiot.
So she couldn't tolerate anyone.

Sandra