THE 39 HIGH SCHOOLERS WHO VISITED THE CAMPUS RECENTLY
Religious Tolerance and the Christian- by Robert wright
The history of rehgious tolerance is a long and interest
ing one. The doctrine of tolerance is a direct outgrowth of
the bloody religious wars that kept Europe during the fif
teenth and sixteenth centuries in a state of turmoil. Every
one accepted the idea that there was such a commodity as
absolute truth which God had seen fit to reveal to men. ,
religious group was certain that it had the true religion and
a monopoly on truth. Under such conditions conflict was in
evitable. Some of the most ignoble crimes ever committed
against humanity have, thereore, been committed in the name
of true religion. Was not the most heinous torture justifi
able if it meant the salvation of the victim’s eternal soul ? Ap
parently, these early Europeans thought it was; for thous
ands of devoutly religious men met death on the rack or at
the stake for refusing to conform to the doctrines of the
established church.
massacre, and the resulting chaos.
Tolerance emerged as the only pos
sible solution, and was preached en
ergetically — by the minorities in
particular. America was being set
tled at the time — to a large exT-
tent by these dissatisfied minori
ties who brought with them the
idea of tolerance. Yet, tolerance, as
they practiced it, was singularly un
successful here, as witnessed by our
witch-hunts and similar events. As
soon as a religious group won recog
nition and power, it forgot its for
mer idea of tolerance and endea
vored, in one way or another, to
force its “truS” faith on all the peo-
But do we not have religious free
dom and tolerance, of all faiths in
America today? Does this fact not
prove that the American Christian
has learned to be tolerant of the
faith of others? Have we not fought
for this religious freedom that we
enjoy today? My answer to these
questions is an unqualified no. We
owe the religious freedom of which
we boast today not fo the fact that
e any r
e toleri
1 almost universal indif
ference to religion of any kind. Part
ly because of the influence of the
rationalist, most people today have
simply ignored even the idea of such
a thing as absolute truth. It is not
hard for a man who believes nothing
to be tolerant of any man’s faith,
as long as it does not interfere with
his freedom from anj belief at all.
Our attitude has changed from tl.«at
of a people who feels that it has
the truth, all the truth, and the orily
hope of salvation now and 'in the
hereafter, to that, of a nation of
skeptics who scoff at all beliefs, hold
that all truth is relative, and there
fore that any belief is as good as
any othfer. As I said before, this is
not torerance; 'it is mere indiffer-
The Christian, however, is of a
different mold, and his very faith
bars him from the eas^ way of so'v-
ing the problem by Ipiiding his head
in the sand of indifference. For the
Christian, the^ is a God who is
the author of absolute truth, which
is unchangable. For a Christian
to transgress this absolute truth as
he understands it is the worst pos
sible form of heresy and a sin
against God Himself. How can a
real Christian, therefore, accept the
idea that everyone’s ideas are equal
ly right since this leads to the idea
of relative truth? Gan a man who
feels that he knows the truth sit
idly by and watch others go to their
doom for the lack of that very im-
^ortaM truth? Has Christ not com
manded him to convert the world?
Can he then be tolerant and yet
true to his religion and God? My an
swer is that he alone can really un
derstand and practice tolerance, and
I base my answer on the Christian
faith itself.
A tolerant Christian is not one
who puts all faiths on the level of
his own and ascribes equal import
ance to them all. Instead he takes
the stand that there is absolute truth
given us by God, but that no man
or group of men has a monopoly on
this truth. Once this idea is ac
cepted, tolerance becomes a possi
bility. Since none of us .knows all
the truth we are not justified in
interfering with the faith of others,
because they may also hi
sight into truth from anoth^ angle.
No man can be a judge^bf other
men, because he can never hope to
know all the truth. That preroga
tive is reserved for God Alone.
Therefore, Communism and Ca
tholicism are wrong not because
they do not know any truth — they
do, but because they refuse to admit
that anyone outside their circle
knows any of the truth. Once you
accept this viewpoint, tolerance be
comes a cornerstone of Christianity
instead of a blot on its religious fer
vor of evangelical principles. There
fore, any totalitarian system impos
ed by a religious body, (the Catho
lic Church, for example) would be
as insufferable to a Christian as any
regime that might be imposed by a
Hitler or a Stalin. Tolerance does
not deny the existance of an abso
lute truth given by God, but insists
that there is an absolute truth and
that men must be left free to pur
sue it in their own way, since no
human or group can know it all.
Lack of tolerance in the Christian
is therefore, a sin; (for if a man
jis tolerant he evidently believes that
A LETTER HOME
(Continued from Page 4)
dadgum heap” (has been usin’ it.
They claim it makes them feel bet
ter but fer us I can tell they ain’t
lookin’ any fer the better. I feel
shore it would do the mules leg
good than the “stump water”
and “whipped lizard livers” youns
have a been a usin.
We had a womurn here frum the
mountains t’other day. She spake to
us in the metin’ house but they call
ed it lycium. She waz the fust body
I have heard who knowed how to
talk half decent.
Maw, I jest wanted you’ns to know
that-.'we air all tickled pink ber-
,’J^use Doc. Dyer have come back
'’ffum the horsepistal. He wuz suf
fering frum carbonated or dehyd
rated stomach er sompin.
We had a fessor vs, student ball
game a t'other night. It wuz more
fun than punkin ateing contest.
Maw, some uve the teachers wore
overhauls and sum uve um didn’t.
What a shape this here world is in!
What I wuz a fixin’ to tell you all
back in the comensing uve the let-
: I V
t to s
r his SI
s all t
irhplicitly claiming to be God.) This
assumption is not just a sin,
see it, but the sin of all sins to be
ever on the alert against.
.’t much important.
Spring has sprung down here,
maw. The Lil birds give recitals in
the trees, the flowers air a blomin’
and sum uve the timber has buds
a big as a squirrill’s year. Maw, by
the by, would you mind sending
me that thar lil’ tin can I used to
keep worms in. Since I forgot to
say goodby I will say hit now. Buy.
Your Lil yungun.
P. S. What I wuz a goin’ to tell you
wuz that grades came out week a
fore yesterday.
ond husband to a widow.”
Ike—“I’d rather be that than h
first.”