My Views on Religious Tolerance

I am profoundly accepting of other people's beliefs (or lack of them). Aside from the obvious puerile hatred and violence of some fringe structures, what I will neither accept nor tolerate is an arrogance which demands a single, global "truth" and the attitude that anything else is, by default, either evil or of no value. It's my considered opinion...and I've spent many years considering, by the way...that we do not choose our beliefs; we realize them. A personal truth is, perhaps, the only identifiable absolute. Realize that the arrogance of which I speak is not confined to a single system. I've encountered it among both believers and non-believers, and honesty compels me to admit that I have sometimes been guilty of it myself. This is something I'm working on, and I hope that recent years have found me largely challenging the arguments...not the individuals who espouse them. I am often impatient, however, and there are times when this impatience colors my approach. It's a human thing, and not particularly an admirable one. That being said, I also need to state that being tolerant is one thing. Being a doormat is entirely another. Yes, I will continue to debate negatively simplistic literal-mindedness. Yes, I will continue to be most insistent of peoples' rights to believe as they must. No, I will be neither falsely polite nor criminally silent when individuals are denied those rights and/or marginalized because they don't share a single spiritual path. Believe as you're called. Act with compassion and reason. Do not attempt to compel belief through legislation, biased or untruthful information, or plain old intrusive peskiness. It does far more harm than good. Mac