A SPECIAL NOTE FOR RELIGIOUS CONSERVATIVES -- MAINLY CHRISTIANS

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Overview of "religious tolerance":

We get a few complaint letters from conservative Christians who object to portions of our web site. Many of these letters are motivated by differences in word definitions:

Please let us explain our position.

Where intolerance leads:

The U.S. and Canada have multi-faith cultures. One source lists 1,588 religious groups of significant size in North America. ₁ The potential exists for religious animosities to flare up and develop into serious religious conflicts. This has happened in many other countries of the world. Religious intolerance has lead to mass crimes against humanity and even genocide. We have seen Muslims exterminating Christians in East Timor and Sudan. We have seen Christians exterminating Muslims in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo.

Our definition of religious tolerance:

This site promotes religious tolerance. That is, we encourage people to respect the freedom of other individuals to follow freely their own religious and spiritual paths, without discrimination and oppression. This is a human right guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights.. Ultimately, it leads to peace in a land of religious diversity, and to religious freedom for all.

Examples of religious intolerance in the U.S.

Three recent examples of religious intolerance in North America were:

Examples of religious tolerance in the U.S.

Sometimes, being religiously tolerant involves taking a positive action. Two recent examples of Christians coming to the aid of religious minorities were:

What "religious tolerance" is not -- (at least not on our web site):

By "religious tolerance" we do not mean that everyone must accept other religions as truth. We can believe that members of another religion are hopelessly deluded, and still support their right to enjoy religious freedom. 

We do not teach that all religions are the same. They are quite different. We do not teach that all religions are simply different paths to the same God. They clearly are not. They teach very different paths to different gods and goddesses. They have entirely different beliefs about deity, religious belief, sexual behavior, family structure, etc.

Some of our policies:

We feel that the best way to counteract religious intolerance is through education. Thus, we try to explain the full range of religious beliefs and practices. On our essays which deal with Christianity, we describe the beliefs of both conservative and liberal Christians. We some times also describe the belief of first and second century Christians as well. Similarly, on controversial topics involving religion, like abortion access and equal protection for homosexuals, we explain all sides to each topic. These policies make us a very different religious web site. Almost all the others promote a single point of view.

We use the same definition of the word "Christian" as do pollsters and government census offices: we include as Christian any person or group which seriously, thoughtfully, prayerfully considers themselves to be Christian. About 88% of Americans and Canadians are Christian by this definition. We recognize that many conservative Christians have a more restrictive definition of what it means to be a Christian.

Reference:

1. J. Gordon Melton, Ed., "The Encyclopedia of American Religions," Triumph Books, (1991). 
2. See our "Burning Times Award" article