Neither of those are truly welcoming since the key component of welcoming is relationship . Welcoming is also not the same as tolerating . Tolerance is certainly preferable to intolerance, but tolerance is a dangerous attitude. It is dangerous because it holds the other at arm s length and refuses to engage. It is dangerous because it can t survive crisis.
History demonstrates that over and over again.
Strangers are tolerated so long as their case arouses sympathy or their presence provides some benefit to us. Strangers are tolerated if they don t challenge our political convictions or our standard of living. Strangers are tolerated when times are good and the economy is prosperous. But when times get tough, tolerance evaporates. Tolerated strangers become suspected enemies as the Jews discovered in pre-war Germany, as people of Japanese ancestry found out in this country during World War II, and as resident aliens in this country found out last year when much tougher immigration and naturalization laws went into effect.