Thursday, 01 January 2009
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Holding the Absolutes of Your Faith and Having Tolerance for Others
by mrs violet
I have been reading a book entitled, If I were God, I'd make myself CLEARER by the Australian author Dr. John Dickson. One of the concepts Dickson addresses in his book is that of tolerance. He says this on pages 38 and 39;
"Tolerance in our modern usage has come to mean simply a willingness to accept as valid another person's point of view. For a Muslim, then a modern-day tolerance would mean a willingness to accept as valid the Buddhist teachings that, contrary to the Koran, human beings experience many lives, not just one. Alternatively, for a Buddhist, modern-day tolerance would mean a willingness to accept as valid the Islamic teaching, in contrast to the words of Buddha, that after just one life a person faces the judgement of God. Can such an acceptance really be understood as tolerance? The answer has to be 'no'.
By definition tolerance must involve an awareness of something contrary- the word comes from the Latin 'tolerare', meaning to endure opposition. True tolerance, then is not my willingness to accept the position of another, it is the more admirable ability to treat with respect a person with whom I deeply disagree.
...By contrast, our common insistence upon mere 'agreement' is intellectually suspect and culturally insensitive. Moreover, it tends to mute healthy discussion and debate among the faiths and so, ironically, has the potential in fact to fuel suspicion and speculation about the 'other'. This is a recipe for bigotry and intolerance.
True tolerance, on the other hand, is both intelectualy rigorous and culturally sensitive, in that it acknowledges the real differences among the faiths. Perhaps more importantly, it has the power to dispel bigotry and discrimination based on differences. For if we coud all learn to honour and care for those with whom we profoundly disagree, our disagreements would only ever provide the basis for engagementa and discussion with others, never fear and hostility towards them. We would be free to contradict but never to disrepect, to persuade but never to coerce. In a multicultural society like ours, tolerance of this kind is a rare and greatly needed commodity."
I think this quote is not only poignant for us here at Revelife but all of us whatever our religious stance. It is ok to hold to the absolutes of your faith, as long as we are truly tolerant of each other.
As this is a Christian site, to aid the growth and fellowship of Christians and to further expound and explain the truths of the Bible and the gospel at large, it is to be expected that there are beliefs that we hold as absolutes, that are fundamental to our belief in the God of the Bible.
In essence this will mean that not everybody will agree all of the time. It is imposible to. A Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Pagan and Christian, all hold beliefs that often times diametrically oppose one another. It is ridiclous to think that we can embrace all of those beliefs while remaining true to the fundamentals of your own.
But what we can all do is to respect the right of others to hold beliefs different to our own. Sure stand up for the truth of the gospel of Jesus, or your own belief system- discuss, debate, fellowship, laugh, cry and make relationships important, but know that at the end of the day it is ok to say we will have to agree to disagree.
Do you find it hard to practice "true" tolerance?
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Comments (69)
not at all, but mostly because i don't believe that any truths are truly fundamental.
When does tolerance become Compromise?
Compromise to the Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
A very careful line..we must love ppl but we are not operating in love or Truth if we allow them to seat in the middle of a busy road, knowing this will lead to their death.
Tolerance is not the same as being loving or peaceable which is what I think you mean.
I find it easy enough as long as they do not get abusive on any level.
I can't see how anyone of *steadfast* religious faith can truly respect another's point of view. After all, if you're religious, you think your religion is THE right and true path. Therefore, all others must be wrong! If you truly believe in the Bible, then all Buddhists, Muslims, etc. are going to hell!
Is that true respect??
I think not.
Do you find it hard to practice "true" tolerance?
Yes. I do catch myself with intolerant thoughts at times.
It does boil down to respect, though. It's hard to be tolerant of others when they're not tolerant of your beliefs. It puts one on the defensive.
I suppose I'm tolerant to a point... and that point is when others start telling me how to live my life and what to believe; essentially, when they have no respect for my beliefs. People can believe whatever they like. But getting in my face and telling me I'm wrong (while demanding that I respect your beliefs at the same time) isn't going to bring me around to your point of view.
Tolerance isn't the issue for a Christian person. We're concerned with loving all people and serving all people.
I thought this was put beautifully. We cant just say its alright to believe something when we believe that that is going to have diar consequences or just say its alright to believe something that might cause someone harm
"Always be prepared to give an answer for the hope that you have in Christ Jesus...But do so with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander." 1 Peter 3:15-16
I agree with your conclusion, based on Scripture. I think the key is to understand others, and thus have a basis for pointing them to the source of Truth. Never compromise, but never belittle those you're trying to reach.
@Made2sing4Jesus@xanga - EXCELLENTLY put!
If possible, we can be at peace and loving to that person, but to sit back KNOWING that their belief--or in today's era, the lack thereof--is dragging them into Hell, its hard to just standby and be tolerant of THAT.
Religious tolerance is becoming intermingled with post-modernism. And we're called to be holy--set apart--from that.
Be loving. Be peaceful. But stand firm in the faith.
@TheGreatBout@xanga - "Tolerance isn't the issue for a Christian person. We're concerned with loving all people and serving all people." Not all Christians are so benevolent as you so naively put it. And with this strange logic could you not extend that to Islam, Buddhism, etc; Islam, being the religion whose very name means "to be at peace" and Buddhism whose very core is to provide spiritual enlightenment through a set of guidelines?
@mini_mayfield@xanga - respect comes from how you treat somebody when you disagree with them.
Agreement does not necessarily equal tolerance. Tolerance at it's very basic meaning, means to endure opposition.
@Made2sing4Jesus@xanga - the true meaning of tolerance is to endure opposition. So true tolerance NEVER means compromise.
x
@ThinkAchieve@xanga - well said.
@TheGreatBout@xanga - well it should be the issue for Christians. We are to endure opposition, not give in, give up or water down what we believe.
We SHOULD always love and respect, but often we fall down in that mandate.
@Wheelchere@xanga - He is a good author, I am really appreciating the book.
@Adrienne_Spenrath - that is such a great scripture. Another one of my very simple fav's is John 1:17, "the law came through Moses, but grace and truth, through Jesus Christ." It has challenged me a lot to put grace before truth, but never let grace compromise truth.
x
True tolerance can be summed up in the following:
1 Corinthians 13:4-8aLove suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;
does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;
does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;
bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails.
@mini_mayfield@xanga - Don't even the "inclusive" religions believe their view to be the only right one?
@Allen_Oz@xanga - exactly. It's just impossible. Describing that kind of religious tolerance as "respect" is like saying it's respectful to tell someone to their face, "You're a smart person," when behind their back you believe them to be truly stupid.
This is the most ridiculous post I have read in a long time, especially in light of who God is.
NEWS FLASH
God is intolerant of sin.
God is intolerant of sinful behaviors.
Jesus did not tolerate the money changers in the temple.
Don't let the demonic influences of post-modernism and the false spirit of times affect your thinking and move you away from the truth, weakening your faith in Jesus Christ.
@mini_mayfield@xanga - On the other hand, there are plenty of people with steadfast anti-religious views who are unable to be respectful of Christians or anyone with a religious view. Bill Maher is one example.
In our state capital, we had a manger scene this year and they also allowed an atheist group to post a sign. I had no problem with that, but instead of putting up a sign explaining their position or showing a positive aspect of atheism, they put up a sign denigrating and mocking Christians, saying "Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds."
So my point is that there are plenty of people who are anti-religious who are just as unable to respect anyone else's point of view. It really has nothing to do with being religious.
@Christenstein@xanga - huh?
@Christenstein@xanga - And yet Jesus always showed respect for all he encountered as sinful even as he told them the secrets of their hearts and told them to go and sin no more. He always treated people with the greatest respect.
The only people he was forceful and righteously angry with was the Sadducee and Pharisee.
There is a VERY big difference in tolerating sin in one's own life and preaching/living the truth of the gospel and respecting the beliefs of another. There is a VERY big difference in standing up for righteousness and respectfully agreeing to disagree with someone.
No body can MAKE somebody accept the gospel.
@mini_mayfield@xanga - Let's take religion out of the mix for a minute and pretend it is football.
People are very passionate about the teams they support, they have fav players, numbers, remember stats and have very strong reasons why they follow who they follow. For some it is a long family tradition to follow a particular team.
When I lived in Sydney I had season tickets to my favorite football team. I would dress in those colours, and scream my lungs out in support with the best of them.
YET if I had somebody sitting next too me from another team, I was not nasty, or disrespectful. I was not rude to them. We may exchange some friendly banter about the game, we may even talk about how each others teams were doing. Sometimes they may express an opinion about the game or team that was contrary to what I believe, so we might have a little chat about that. Each sharing their own point of view in a good natured way.
If we had a spare ticket, we would invite a friend to the game who was from the opposite team so that they could share the fun of the game.
See I can respect that their passions and beliefs about football where
different to mine, even though I was mad keen about my own team. I could listen to their opinions, I could even disagree with them, but I didn't once compromise my beliefs about my team nor did I let it come between us relationally.
How we TREAT people is not dependent on whether we AGREE with them or not.
@mrsviolet - And yet Jesus always showed respect for all he encountered as sinful even as he told them the secrets of their hearts and told them to go and sin no more. He always treated people with the greatest respect.
This is a logical fallacy. You are changing the subject, mainly speaking about whether Christians should be tolerant of others beliefs to a discussion about Jesus respecting others.
There is a VERY big difference in standing up for righteousness and respectfully agreeing to disagree with someone.
Sure, we should respect others beliefs to persecute Christians. After all, that's their belief and we should agree to disagree with them. You are going down a very slippery slope here.
@mrsviolet - Right. We fall short. But it doesn't mean we draw new lines, compromise or give up on the standard Christ gave us.