Do the words “tolerance” or “freedom” have the potential to become a contronym, as in their own opposite or a strange reverse reflection of themselves?
In connection with the Niqab debate, presenter Frederick Tamagi asks:
- What if the exercise of tolerance in our community affirmed acts of intolerance in someone else’s community?
- What if the granting of freedom in our community affirmed the denial of freedom in someone else’s community?
If tolerance and freedom were the looking glass through which we saw the Niqab debate, then context is ultra important to the meaning of those words.