But tolerance doesn’t tell us that just because the belief is religious, there’s no way to pronounce on its truth. People who do not really know anything about other religions just assume the … Charlie Hebdo, Intolerance, and the Problem of Double Standards January 16, 2015 October 15, 2018 By Kim R. Holmes The terrible massacre in Paris could be a “teachable” moment on the meaning of tolerance, but it will require soul searching by America’s cultural leftists. That was determined to violate the student union’s policy, which forbids external speakers to spread “hatred and intolerance in the community” and says they “must seek to avoid insulting other faiths or groups.” Namazie’s critical views, the student union concluded, could infringe upon the “right of Muslim students not to feel intimidated or discriminated against on their university campus.”. Now the next step: Acknowledge that religious beliefs include historical and ethical claims. It is currently published as a searchable online platform with profiles of world problems, action strategies, and human values that are interlinked in novel and innovative ways. Otherwise, interfaith dialogue becomes a middle-school art show, where people ooh and aah and praise the work without passing judgment on its quality, lest they hurt someone’s feelings. At times these different believes can conflict each other, thus creating and causing secularism, intolerance, and discrimination towards other religions and cultures. Tolerance can help. Alan Levinovitz is an assistant professor of religious studies at James Madison University. It’s encouraging to see that Warwick’s student union reversed its decision this week following a public outcry, which included a petition in support of inviting Namazie that was signed by more than 5,000 people. The complex and intertwined problems we all grapple with stand in contrast to the dismantling of a convention that might at least have helped to contain or address religious intolerance. Religious intolerance involves acts denying the right of people of another religious faith to practice and express their beliefs freely. If this sounds crazy or extreme, start by thinking in terms of historical claims: There are multiple perspectives on the age of the earth that aren’t equally valid and deserving of respect. Islam and Christianity are competing for … Combatting religious intolerance and discrimination has been one of the international human rights system’s top priorities since the very founding of the UN. Some may fear that emphasizing the fallibility of religious beliefs will work against the possibility of interfaith dialogue. Last week newspapers reported that the student union at Britain’s University of Warwick had banned Maryam Namazie, a secular human-rights activist, from speaking on the campus this month. We remain biased and think everyone else on this planet who does not agree with us is wrong. However, the sensitivity of the subject matter has consistently acted as a barrier to progress. Religious intolerance, rather, occurs when a group (e.g., a society, a religious group, a non-religious group) specifically refuses to tolerate one's practices, persons or beliefs on religious grounds. The Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential is a unique, experimental research work of the Union of International Associations. When people from a religion think they have an authority on their beliefs and close their minds to others that is where the problem begins. “The Rise of Religious Intolerance in Contemporary Indonesia” in Jakarta to discuss the reasons why religious intolerance is becoming a growing problem in post-Reformasi Indonesia. Tolerance is not synonymous with “believing someone else is right.” It is a virtue that allows you to coexist with people whose way of life is different from your own without throwing a temper tantrum, or a punch. Ignorance often leads to fear, fear can lead to hate, and hate can lead to violence. Religious intolerance, rather, is when a group (e.g., a society, religious group, non-religious group) specifically refuses to tolerate practices, persons or … Religious Intolerance around the World. Competition and rivalry between religions also accounts for conflict. We've already seen how thoroughly Islam is a religion of war; it is also, pro- foundly, a religion of intolerance. No extremism here, just common sense — the same common sense that allows religious traditions to correct mistaken positions on the age of the earth, or whether God wants black people to be priests. The initial content for the Encyclopedia was seeded from UIA’s Yearbook of International Organizations. A version of this article appeared in the, Student Success in a Time of Remote Learning. It calls on us to listen generously and seek, in dialogue, our own inevitable mistakes and blind spots. This version of dialogue cheapens religion by reducing it to taste, and disrespects the participants by treating them like children. Knowledge is the key to avoid going down this path. That’s complacence, not tolerance, and it’s time to start recognizing the difference. Part of the problem, no doubt, is created by the adoption of religion at a state level. By far the most common response is to teach that there are multiple religious perspectives, all of which are equally valid and deserving of respect. Combatting religious intolerance and discrimination has been one of the international human rights system’s top priorities since the very founding of the UN. This not only feels good, it also feels legal. But there's just one problem with the common view: It isn't true. These connections are based on a range of relationships such as broader and narrower scope, aggravation, relatedness and more. In fact, the opposite is true. Religious intolerance is a global malaise that has triggered anarchy and turmoil in several parts of the world. Moving from anti-Catholic Ku Klux Klan propaganda to mob attacks on Mormons, the lynching of Leo Frank, the kidnapping of "cult" members, and many other episodes, the volume concludes with a chapter addressing the changing face of religious intolerance in the twenty-first century, with examples of how the problem continues to this day. As Boston University’s Stephen Prothero puts it in God Is Not One, “This is a lovely sentiment, but it is dangerous, disrespectful, and untrue.” Thankfully, the vast majority of modern scholars now side with Prothero, and the American Academy of Religion’s curriculum guidelines for public schools ensure that teachers at all levels will not irresponsibly homogenize the world’s religious traditions. From ancient times to the present, in fact, it seems that a defining element of humanity itself is an inability or unwillingness to allow others to hold different beliefs. Which brings us back to Maryam Namazie and the right of Muslim students — or students of any religious persuasion — to be free from intolerance and discrimination. Religious intolerance and discrimination exist on a worldwide scale. In its service, popular authors and academics have preached the comforting delusion that religions are essentially the same, and therefore fundamentally compatible. In segments of the Islamic world, close political and cultural ties between Israel and the United States are often perceived as symbolic of anti-Islamic policies by the Western world. The UN publication Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief lists ignorance and lack of understanding as being “among the most important root causes of intolerance and discrimination in the matter of religion and belief.” However, ignorance, the root of intolerance, can be fought. The problem for people of faith is that non-believers and secular people against Wouldn’t I violate the Establishment Clause, thinks the terrified public-school teacher, if I implied that some religions are superior to others? The other possible response, then, is to teach that there are multiple religious perspectives, which are not all equally valid and deserving of respect. It doesn’t forbid us to criticize falsehoods if religion is used to justify those falsehoods. By concentrating on these links and relationships, the Encyclopedia is uniquely positioned to bring focus to the complex and expansive sphere of global issues and their interconnected nature. Where secularism or at least state guaranteed religious tolerance is the norm the level and frequency of religious intolerance is lower. The Union of International Associations (UIA) is a research institute and documentation centre, based in Brussels. But if students — and teachers — continue to conflate criticism and intolerance, similar issues are certain to arise in the future. And untrue, because basic logic tells us that “God condones slavery” and “God forbids slavery” cannot be equally valid claims. Educators like me can respond in two ways. Religious intolerance is alive and well in our land, particularly among conservatives of all stripes. When beliefs we do not accept are part of someone’s religious worldview, the virtue of tolerance tells us to proceed with caution. A strong current of anti-Semitism has run through American society since it's inception and came to a peak in the years leading up to World War II. ), but it is dangerous, disrespectful, and untrue. Which brings us back to Maryam Namazie and the right of Muslim students — or students of any religious persuasion — to be free from intolerance and discrimination. The potential coexistence of all religions is a seductive fantasy. The result, however, is disastrous. No doubt the question of how to engage with people whose beliefs we deem wrong is important and complicated. The Problem with Tolerance The Tolerance of Intolerance ..... and the Intolerance of Tolerance . Religious intolerance is expressed in discrimination, repression and religious rivalry, and results in or results from persecution. Passion . After all, if you claim that a religious belief is wrong, aren’t you being intolerant? The problem of religious intolerance. Paper by Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations, at the International Conference on Christian-Jewish-Muslim Inter-confessional Dialogue (Budapest, 2 … It was established in 1907, by Henri la Fontaine (Nobel Peace Prize laureate of 1913), and Paul Otlet, a founding father of what is now called information science. Hidden Prayer in Yemen: Islam and the problem of religious intolerance David Pinault December 07, 2009 Christians in Sanaa, the capital city in Yemen, cannot pray in church. And it doesn’t mean that people who challenge deeply held beliefs represent a threat. UIA’s decades of collected data on the enormous variety of association life provided a broad initial perspective on the myriad problems of humanity. Religious intolerance becomes an increasingly serious problem and has a significant effect on interreligious relations in Indonesia. These problems are not new. You have reared a child; he owes you respect as a father, gratitude as a benefactor. What is the meaning of religious intolerance? But the academy’s guidelines leave a crucial question unanswered: If religious people (and secular people) disagree on basic aspects of history, science, and ethics, how is it possible to maintain the truth of one’s own position while “tolerating” others? What can we do together? Conflict between people of different religions may begin with simple ignorance. Namazie, an Iranian-born former Muslim, routinely challenges radical Islamist beliefs and criticizes many aspects of Islam. Religious intolerance is intolerance of another's religious beliefs or practices or lack thereof. Recognizing that international associations are generally confronting world problems and developing action strategies based on particular values, the initial content was based on the descriptions, aims, titles and profiles of international associations. Religious intolerance is intolerance of another's religious beliefs or practices or lack thereof. To explore the issue of how domestic religious intolerance affects U.S. diplomacy, in 2018 the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy convened a working group on “Religious Intolerance and America’s Image and Policies Abroad.” Experts from the diplomatic corps, academia, non-governmental organizations, and U.S.-based faith communities joined an Interfaith dialogue is an opportunity not only to learn about other people’s beliefs, but also to challenge the basis of those beliefs and allow other people to challenge one’s own. Or maybe think about it in terms of ethics: There are multiple perspectives on child abuse that aren’t equally valid and deserving of respect. The Problem of Religious Intolerance in Pakistan 12/02/2015 03:37 pm ET Updated Dec 06, 2017 In a recent incident in Pakistan, an Ahmadi mosque has been burnt and members of their community have been arrested on charges of blasphemy. Dangerous, because it means people will be less likely to fight against injustices and falsehoods that are underwritten by religion. They want to make sure their own beliefs are worth holding, and they think others are better off doing the same. Better to accept religious relativism than run the risk of bigotry. Religious intolerance involves acts denying the right of people of another religious faith to practice and express their beliefs freely. Conflict between church and state or other conflict occurs in the Middle East and in Northern Ireland and Cyprus. These problems are not new. He even committed aggravated assault in the Temple against people with whom he disagreed. Like Warwick’s student union, they think refraining from criticism is essential to religious tolerance. Certain Christian groups in the UK campaign against the practice of Yoga, particularly in public premises, claiming that, in essence, and as a Hindu practice, it is a cleverly disguised form of devil-worship. Suddenly we are in the land of bumper-sticker postmodernism, where truths are perspectival and no one can be objectively wrong. In his Treatise on Toleration he argued that religious intolerance was against the law of nature and was worse than the “right of the tiger": WHETHER INTOLERANCE IS OF NATURAL AND HUMAN LAW Natural law is that indicated to men by nature. How? What, precisely, do we understand by the notion of “tolerance”?One dictionary defines it as follows: “A fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from one's own; freedom from bigotry.” (dictionary.com) Non-profit, apolitical, independent, and non-governmental in nature, the UIA has been a pioneer in the research, monitoring and provision of information on international organizations, international associations and their global challenges since 1907. The reasoning was simple. Participants were scholars of religious intolerance in Indonesia and activists, representing mainstream Indonesian Islamic organisations Nahdlatul The persecution of Jews throughout history stands, perhaps, as the epitome of religious intolerance and they've suffered it in the United States as they have almost everywhere else. Let’s do our best to make sure they don’t. It warns against making snap judgments about the quality of the person who holds those beliefs, which is the right way to be respectful. Since the ‘70s, Nigeria has had more than a fair share of religious conflicts. Mere statements which are contrary to one's beliefs do not constitute intolerance. He is also recorded as having been severely intolerant of the religious beliefs and practices of Pharisees and Sadducees. When I teach introductory courses in religion, I find my students are also unwilling to offer critical appraisals of religious beliefs, and for the same reason. You can think a religious belief is wrong without being intolerant. Undue religious influence on secular life, Segregation based on religious affiliation, Denial of right to a people to pursue development. Targets of religious intolerance can include members of specific religions or religion in general, people who choose to change their religion or to have no religion at all, and even people randomly victimized by religion-related terror or armed conflict. That approach is fundamentally misguided. Religious intolerance in the Bible : Jesus sometimes promoted religious tolerance of non-Jews by his words and actions. Intellectually honest people, religious or not, care deeply about truth. Coercion is not the way to solve problems of religious intolerance. PC Myth: lslam is a tolerant faith Jews and Christians, goes the PC line, lived in harmony with Muslims dur- ing the era of the great Islamic empires of the past. 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