posted April 24, 2013 04:25 PM
Religious intolerance is a tricky thing.It's not always easy to be tolerant of the religion of others, or of religion in general. Whether we identify with a particular faith tradition or with none at all, we can still get caught up in the trap of religious intolerance.
The results can be tragically ironic.
Often, we make the mistake of becoming intolerant of certain religions, or of religion in general, for the very reason that those who practice them are (in our estimation) intolerant. Likewise, we may persecute people only because we expect them to persecute us. We imagine ourselves the defenders of liberty while attacking the liberty of others. We ridicule the spiritual condition of those from whom we expect to receive ridicule.
Religion has no monopoly on fanaticism.
One can become fanatical in defense of any ideology. Religious fanatics tend to paint with one brush everyone who thinks differently from themselves. But, then, so do other kinds of fanatics. Many atheists and so-called spiritual people agree on nothing except their mutual intolerance for religion. Many of them refuse to see anything good about religion, or to see it in another way, because, they say, religious people are blind to the good in them, and refuse to see them in another way.
Again, the irony is almost frightening.
It is frightening when people judge in the name of Christ, who said, "Judge not," and when they kill to promote commandments like "Thou shalt not kill." But it is no less frightening, no less blind and absurd, when people preach against preaching, and promote intolerance in the name of tolerance. It is not difficult to see how vast numbers of people can be led astray, and led to believe that they are defending a noble cause, while laying waste to monuments of goodness, charity, and love. After all, who among us is without fault?
It doesn't matter who started it.
The real question is:
Who is going to let it go?
Who is going to set the example for
tolerance, acceptance, and understanding?
Religion And Science
The most praiseworthy things can be distorted to serve the most horrific, deplorable ends. This is as true of science as it is of religion. Science is indeed a noble enterprise, but the men and women who practice it are not always so noble. We can excuse science for the flaws of pseudo-scientists, if we know the good it is capable of when practiced according to its highest principles. Likewise, we can excuse religion for the flaws of dogmatists, if we know the good religion is capable of when practiced according to its highest principles. We may even come to reflect that the blindspots which are common to the practice of science are generally apparent to the practice of religion, and vice versa. The marriage of these two may truly be a match "made in heaven". They may, in fact, be two halves of a single whole. As it is, they are the oddest of odd couples.
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Vision without action is a dream.
Action without vision is a nightmare.
~ Japanese Proverb