Tolerance: Why Does
It Even Matter
By, Paulette Mahurin
Author of
The Persecution of
Mildred Dunlap
First let me give a big heartfelt thank you to the great
blog site, Reviews That Bite, for hosting me for this interview. I’m so happy
to be here.
Since the subject matter of my book is intolerance, bullying
another for their nature, I thought it’d be a good thing to take a look at what
tolerance is. I know that I can always go deeper, look deeper, on that subject,
for I often see things arise in me that are definitely intolerant, if I am to
be very honest with you here.
I see the way someone dresses or acts and I think to myself, how could you do that? Or wear that? Or be
that? Be that? Are you kidding me! If someone judges me, or worse tries to
change something about me, unless it’s constructive toward relationship
building and my betterment coming from someone who loves and knows me (but come
on it is usually someone judging and wanting to change me, for the most part),
if someone does that to me, I’m up in arms. Yet, when I do it, it feels right.
I feel, and believe, I’m right. Boy
do I have a strong ego; it creates reality out of thin air, instead of simply
accepting what is.
What I’m trying to say is, I’m human. We all are and we all
do this. We judge yet come out with ridiculous statements like, I don’t judge, I’m not judgmental, then
we spew out, okay I spew out, things that are so judgmental and when I’m called
on it, I defend why I’m not doing it. In writing this book, I saw a lot of this
in myself, especially while writing about Josie, the hate filled rumor
mongering bitch, who can’t keep her mouth shut, and what comes out of it is
ignorant babble. I also see myself in Gus, the voice of tolerance and wisdom, I
see how I want to open more, be more accepting, love more, and I also see how that is selfish
because in opening I feel better, more alive.
When I started researching my book, the inspiration for the
driving force of the story line, Oscar Wilde’s imprisonment, was always near at
heart. He was my reminder, my metaphor, of the injustice of intolerance, all
housed in beliefs, in laws, in narrow mindedness, all with roots of hatred for
what is, another’s nature, that can no more change than a dog can not wag its
tail. If we are to believe that God created all under the heavens and sun, then
how could it be that there are creations that just aren’t right, not okay, less
than human? Seems to me, this has to stem from some culturally based false
belief, that gets passed down lifetimes after lifetimes, so by the time I’m
into that belief, it feels real to me. Reality is created by thoughts, beliefs,
and world viewpoints. If I think that guy likes me and fantasize over how I
know he wants me, a reality is created inside of me. The brain doesn’t really
know the difference between a thought and what’s actually happening, it
secretes its chemicals, creating emotions, and man that is real. I believe I’m being
rejected and it feels bad. That’s real and I’m feeling it.
If I believed Oscar Wilde was evil, or wrong, or acting
illegally because he was a Gay man, then my mind is going to work it out to
make it seems so. But what about what is accurate? Who among us would
want to be prevented from loving? From intimacy, from the one we love? No one.
It’s one of the most basic human needs from time and memorial, right along with
our need to eat, drink, breathe, and if we had a switch or choice why would be
chose devastation, humiliation, labeling that puts one in jail and kills? This
has been the debate over sexual preference for decades, is it nature or
nurture? The abundant view is nature. And, with this I agree. I agree and feel
that Oscar Wilde did what came naturally, and in doing so, acting through what
he could no more prevent than can a leaf from taking in carbon dioxide to
survive, an ice cube melting in the sun, a fire’s warmth, all things of nature,
and so what’s left is my fundamental question, can I tolerate it? Can I accept
what is, see my insides resisting and wanting to change it, and breathe in a new
possibility, that it is different, and I’m okay with different, because
different is not bad, it’s just different. After all, aren’t we all different?
AMAZON.COM:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=The+persecution+of+mildred+Dunlap
AMAZON U.K.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=the+persecution+of+mildred+dunlap
GOODREADS:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14061559-the-persecution-of-mildred-dunlap
SHELFARI:
http://www.shelfari.com/books/28821838/The-Persecution-of-Mildred-Dunlap
FACEBOOK:
https://www.facebook.com/ThePersecutionOfMildredDunlap
BOOK'S BLOG:
http://thepersecutionofmildreddunlap.wordpress.com/
TWITTER:
https://twitter.com/MahurinPaulette
BOOK'S WEBSITE:
http://bookpromogroup2.weebly.com/paulette-mahurin.html
PRESS ARTICLE:
VC STAR Sept. 9, 2012 Sunday Life Section:
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/sep/08/ojai-authors-historical-novel-teaches-tolerance/
GOOGLE PROFILE PAGE:
https://plus.google.com/100183915878557337061/posts
SHELTER ALL PROFITS ARE GOING TO:
http://www.santapaulaarc.org/
AMAZON.COM:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=The+persecution+of+mildred+Dunlap
AMAZON U.K.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=the+persecution+of+mildred+dunlap
GOODREADS:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14061559-the-persecution-of-mildred-dunlap
SHELFARI:
http://www.shelfari.com/books/28821838/The-Persecution-of-Mildred-Dunlap
FACEBOOK:
https://www.facebook.com/ThePersecutionOfMildredDunlap
BOOK'S BLOG:
http://thepersecutionofmildreddunlap.wordpress.com/
TWITTER:
https://twitter.com/MahurinPaulette
BOOK'S WEBSITE:
http://bookpromogroup2.weebly.com/paulette-mahurin.html
PRESS ARTICLE:
VC STAR Sept. 9, 2012 Sunday Life Section:
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/sep/08/ojai-authors-historical-novel-teaches-tolerance/
GOOGLE PROFILE PAGE:
https://plus.google.com/100183915878557337061/posts
SHELTER ALL PROFITS ARE GOING TO:
http://www.santapaulaarc.org/
