My Thoughts on Religious Tolerance

"Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion nor belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance."

-- The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 18, December 10, 1948

1948 was a much different world than today.  We were just coming off battles against the most brutal racist regime the world had ever known, and the Empire of the Sun which was hell bent on owning the other half of the world.  Hatred, racial inequality, genocide reigned supreme for more than several years.  After the dust settled, the world would change forever.  The United Nations ratified a Universal Declaration of Human Rights which was supposed to clarify, basically, the world view of mankind's right to a peaceful existence.

 For our purposes in considering religious tolerance, I feel the quote above is somewhat incomplete.  This may be due to the fact it has been taken out of the context of the entire article of which it is an excerpt.  Let's look at the entire Article 18, and Article 27 which also has bearing:

Article 18

1. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice, and freedom, either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching.

2. No one shall be subject to coercion which would impair his freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice.

3. Freedom to manifest one's religion or beliefs may be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary to protect public safety, order, health, or morals or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others.

4. The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to have respect for the liberty of parents and, when applicable, legal guardians to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions, respect the exclusive character of the responsibilities of the Secretary-General and the staff and not to seek to influence them in the discharge of their responsibilities.

Article 27

In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to such minorities shall not be denied the right, in community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practise their own religion, or to use their own language.

Well, one would think this pretty well covered the subject; one would think.  I myself have issue with there being no mention of "peaceful" in either article.  But, for 1948 it probably was a good first effort.  Can you venture a guess of who else has issues with it?  Enter the Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam.  Who would have thought?  One has to remember that any declaration will have to worm its way through the minutia storm troopers that exist in every culture and religion, the group we lovingly refer to as, The League of the Perpetually Offended.

Let's consider the reason given for an Islamic "Declaration," and keep in mind the activities of the Islamic heretics and their poorly interpreted "jihadist" principles.  Islam seems to have an issue with an alleged western bias of the Universal Declaration.  I guess this would mean it isn't "universal" for these folks.  As an example, Faisal Kutty, a law scholar, states that, "A strong argument can be made that the current formulation of international human rights constitutes a cultural structure in which western society finds itself easily at home... It is important to acknowledge and appreciate that other societies may have equally valid alternative conceptions of human rights."

He is absolutely correct.  We have seen this with Hitler, Stalin, and let's not forget 'Lil' Kim in North Korea.  All staunch supporters of alternative concepts of human rights.  One would think they are missing the point that these are guidelines by which to set a "standard" of conduct.  But have they really missed the point, or are they just sabre rattling?  Let's look at the Islamic alternative and see how it holds up.

The Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam was adopted in Cairo in 1990.  The following are a few excerpts, just to get the flavor of it: 

Article 1

1. All human beings form one family whose members are united by their subordination to Allah and descent from Adam. All men are equal in terms of basic human dignity and basic obligations and responsibilities, without any discrimination on the basis of race, colour, language, belief, sex, religion, political affiliation, social status or other considerations. The true religion is the guarantee for enhancing such dignity along the path to human integrity.

Article 2

1. Life is a God-given gift and the right to life is guaranteed to every human being. It is the duty of individuals, societies and states to safeguard this right against any violation, and it is prohibited to take away life except for a shari’ah prescribed reason.

2. It is forbidden to resort to any means which could result in the genocidal annihilation of mankind.

3. The preservation of human life throughout the term of time willed by Allah is a duty prescribed by Shari’ah.

Article 3

1. In the event of the use of force and in case of armed conflict, it is not permissible to kill non-belligerents such as old men, women and children. The wounded and the sick shall have the right to medical treatment; and prisoners of war shall have the right to be fed, sheltered and clothed. It is prohibited to mutilate or dismember dead bodies. It is required to exchange prisoners of war and to arrange visits or reunions of families separated by circumstances of war.

This sounds pretty good, at face value.  Fair, and "without any discrimination on the basis of race, color, language, belief, sex, religion, political affiliation, social status or other considerations."  Really?  Yet, they are only united in their subordination to Allah and their descent from Adam.  So it's basically an Abrahamic religion club where Asian and western cultures get screwed.  They are big on slamming the U.N. for an "alleged" western bias, but they seem to have no qualms with completely ignoring everyone else.  Yet, in the same first paragraph of Article 1 they demand that there be no religious discrimination, which makes sense when you understand the Qur'an demands toleration of other religions.  And, if you read just these few excerpts I've presented, you can get a feeling for the fact that the intent of Islam is being totally ignored in the practice of Islam by the radical factions, as well as by the Islamic hierarchy that allow the atrocities being visited upon innocence by suicide bombers to continue with no outcry of foul; no actions to enforce a call to cease and desist from these actions against Allah.  It sounds like this declaration has about as much muscle behind it as the U.N. declaration; none.

“If a believer demands that I, as a nonbeliever, observe his taboos in the public domain, he is not asking for my respect, but for my submission.” 

-- Flemming Rose, Journalist  

It is very interesting to read these two declarations if you would really like to get a handle on views of tolerance.  Plenty is available online.  I like to keep it pretty basic, so I looked up a couple of definitions pertinent to my purpose.

Congregation:  A group of people assembled for religious worship. Synonyms would be parishioners, parish, churchgoers, flock, faithful, followers, believers, fellowship, communicants, laity, brethren, membership, throng, company, assemblage, or audience.

 Religious:  Relating to or believing in a religion.  Synonyms would be devout, pious, reverent, godly, God-fearing, churchgoing, faithful, devoted, or committed. 

Tolerance:  The ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with.  Synonyms would be acceptance, open-mindedness, broad-mindedness, forbearance, liberality, or liberalism.

What is the definition of religious tolerance?  Religious tolerance is the willingness to accept and permit peaceful religious or spiritual beliefs and practices which disagree with one's own convictions.  It means acceptance of other people's peaceful beliefs and that they have the right to hold and practice these beliefs, even though they may differ from the dominant religion in a particular region, and that they may worship freely according to their beliefs.  Their right to peacefully convince others to convert to their beliefs should be accepted as well, if it does not run contrary to the laws of the host country.

Tolerance is seen in action as well as in word.  Tolerance is the absence of attacks, harassment, insults, and other abuses levied on a people because of their peaceful beliefs.  While certain factions in Islam, for instance, find it necessary to misquote or reinterpret the Qur'an to suit their own agenda, deliberate misquoting or misinterpretation of another's peaceful beliefs for the purposes of ridicule and criticism is considered improper.

Religious tolerance is the ability or willingness to tolerate another's rights to practice peaceful religious or spiritual beliefs, opinion, or behavior, even though you may not agree with it.

I look upon the Congregation of Religious Tolerance as a group of people from all peaceful faiths and beliefs, whether they are religious, spiritual, atheist or other, coming together in open-minded fellowship in commitment to spreading the idea of religious tolerance.

I feel the toleration of religious ideas this is a good starting point. If we can learn to tolerate each other in our faiths and spirituality, perhaps we can learn to be more tolerant of political and other beliefs as well.  If we all agreed with each other, what a dull, boring world we would have.  It is through peaceful disagreement, constructive discussion and debate that we continue to grow and build.  If we could just learn to be tolerant of each other in all things, we might also learn to live in peace.

As always, these are just my thoughts and I could be wrong.  I am not a member of the aforementioned League of the Perpetually Offended, so I welcome your thoughts and comments via the comment box, below, or by e-mail at ulcpastor0@gmail.com. 

“God has made different religions to suit different aspirants, times, and countries. All doctrines are only so many paths; but a path is by no means God himself. Indeed, one can reach God if one follows any of the paths with whole-hearted devotion...One may eat a cake with icing either straight or sidewise. It will taste sweet either way.”

-- Sri Ramakrishna, Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna