Thoughts? Tolerance v. Acceptance

Something that concerns me lately as a mother, lawyer and citizen is the consistent trend of watching political correctness slowly devour our freedom--both of speech and religion. Have you noticed the definition of tolerance changing subtly in the media to mean acceptance--meaning if you don't accept our views, you aren't tolerant of our views? We've lost the divider here that matters. Tolerance is supposed to mean that you can respectfully disagree with someone on core issues or beliefs and still be able to get along. Acceptance, however, is believing and or espousing someone else's opinions or beliefs. What happened to a country of free speech where we can share openly our thoughts and beliefs (as long as we do not harm others) and still have a respectful, positive relationship despite opposing views? In addition, just because a person doesn't believe in something, doesn't mean they discount the person. Those are two very separate things--beliefs and people. But our forefathers came to this country and established it on the premise that we would have the freedom to disagree and still be able to coexist in a positive environment. I want my children to have that and I feel as though I am watching those freedoms slowly erode in the name of "political correctness". Your thoughts?

lvjo