> whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also (Jesus)
> I do not like the word tolerance, but could not think of a better one. Tolerance implies a gratuitous assumption of the inferiority of other faiths to one (Gandhi)
I guess the author alludes to the paradox of tolerance first described by Karl Popper 1945 in The Open Society and Its Enemies.
Sometimes deterring punishment is the only thing that keeps people from abusing tolerance or freedom to destroy that tolerance and freedom, but it needs to stay a measure of last resort.
It’s interesting indeed how tolerance and freedom interact with each other’s. To put another perspective, here’s a quote from an unrelated text (0)
> Middle Eastern Muslim culture expert Marvin Zonis notes that Arab societies value the honor and dignity of the individual more than personal liberty.
I 100% about the benefits of (sometime) punishments, but also perhaps a bit less liberty to make space for other values might have benefits. I’m not sure where to place the slider on that scale, as too much honor and dignity can be quite restrictive.
