The role of intercultural gastronomic differences in the formation of a tolerant and intolerant society

The article is devoted to identifying the role of gastronomic differences between cultures in the formation of a tolerant and/or non-tolerant society. The author primarily considers the concept of tolerance and intolerance. The formation of a certain attitude of one subject to another, as it was revealed, may eventually have an unequal level, including in different spheres of life. Tolerance in this context is not just the ability to accept the culture of another person (people), but also to take part in it in some way or to carry out active interaction. On this basis, we can say that tolerance has a number of functions that are valid both separately for an individual and a group, and for entire institutions: stability in society, reducing the number of conflicts between representatives of different cultures, forming the foundations for the upbringing of the future generation, etc. The education of tolerance depends on the forms of social consciousness, one of which is religion. It is in the religious and cultural framework that intercultural differences can be noted most of all, including the ways and level of subjects' response to these differences. The author considers several factors that determine the existence of tolerance as a necessity for the coexistence of different groups of the population: poverty and wealth, as well as four world religions, within which the greatest difference can be called gastronomic. - A theoretical analysis and a survey of representatives of various faiths showed that the level of tolerance is highest among Christians (there are no people with an intolerant attitude among 20 respondents), lower among Muslims (Sunnis) (14 out of 20 respondents have an intolerant attitude). In conclusion, the author proposed his own interpretation of the term gastronomic tolerance - the ability of a subject to show willingness to show tolerance for the gastronomic culture of other subjects, to accept the fact of its existence and create conditions for its development, if possible, and participation in the implementation of such culture.