TAGS
TOLERANCE
RELIGIOUS LITERACY
As I dug deeper into his website I discovered a 28-minute video clip of a talk he gave several years ago at the Messiah Lutheran Church in Weldon Spring, MO. The talk was on Christian-Muslim relations. He was speaking passionately about increasing understanding between these two religious traditions. Turns out this is what he does. He says his calling is to increase the level of religious literacy in the world. Greater understanding paves the way to greater tolerance. He goes on to say that for him it’s more than work—it’s a divine inspiration.
TOLERANCE
Perhaps it was reticence or a lack of confidence in my young self that John seized upon, but his reaction was instant. He jumped on my offer with the fervor of an offended politician.
TOLERANCE
What hatred and intolerance look like: The charred remains of 4-year old Melissa Morrison, recovered from the ashes of the Branch Davidian complex in Waco, Texas, after the inferno of April 19, 1993 ended the FBI’s 51-day siege.
TOLERANCE
Laugh if you want, but he seriously felt like a friend. He came in the door singing. He changed his sweater and his shoes. He fed the fish. He dog-sat for a neighbor, got mail delivered, and showed me all around his neighborhood. He invited me to join him, via his trolley, in a land of make-believe.
TOLERANCE
I have a friend on social media who is a practicing Baptist minister. He’s an old friend from high school. He has the usual family/nature/”funny stuff” posts, but his favorite subject matter seems to be politics.
TOLERANCE
I posted this photo on my photography blog. I didn’t think it would be very controversial. Boy, was I wrong.
TOLERANCE
A few years ago, a seven-year-old boy waving a Pop Tart and saying “bang bang” was suspended from school in Maryland. The school had a “zero-tolerance” policy regarding guns, and the Pop Tart crossed the line.
TOLERANCE
I believe that the more confident you are in your beliefs and viewpoints, the more generous you can be with beliefs and viewpoints that differ from your own. Courtesy, kindness, and polite and sincere discourse are possible and vital to the health of any society.
TOLERANCE
A society worth living in is one in which religious tolerance is alive and well. Let us then make conscious efforts to be more tolerant of those whose beliefs are different from ours, and trust in them to do likewise.
TOLERANCE
But rather than focusing on what we don’t like about others, we should look for ways to accept—even admire—our differences.
