Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!decwrl!sun-barr!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: kilroy@mimsy.umd.edu (Nancy's Sweetie) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Tolerance Message-ID: Date: 22 Feb 90 08:43:36 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: U of Maryland, Dept. of Computer Science, Coll. Pk., MD 20742 Lines: 63 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu Kenneth J. Kutz writes about `intolerant': > >It is my prayer, that those who feel the Bible is worth daily reading >(Acts 17:11), and inevitably come to the same level of intolerance the >Scripture writers had, to remember the words of Paul. To correct weak >convicted people with a spirit that is compatible with the patience our >Lord showed to us in our rebellion prior to coming to Christ. I personally do not consider myself to be on Paul's level; where he spent a bit of his writing time arguing against theological error, I spend a bit of my reading time going over what he said. There are many people who do likewise, and who interpret his words differently; it would be rather arrogant of me to claim that it must always be the others who are mistaken. Given that I know I am fallible, it would be foolishness for me to insist that everyone must agree with my reading of Scripture. Which brings me to my next point... >It is also my prayer that those who rate "tolerance of contradicting >beliefs" higher than their own, that they capture the spirit of >"intolerance" found in Holy Scripture and to begin to "fight the good >fight" by "earnestly contending for the faith, once for all delivered >to the saints" (Jude 3). I don't mean to disappoint you, but there have been many times when I have found myself to be mistaken. If I had been as intolerant as you are telling me to be, I would not have listened to others who knew more than I did. Additionally, there are many people who think that my beliefs are wrong, and I am occassionally treated poorly as a result of it. I personally hope that those who think I am mistaken will at least treat me with respect -- am I to deny them that same consideration? >Apostasy begins with the toleration of error. Don't misread me, but this sounds like it came right out of the Spanish Inquisition... kilroy@cs.umd.edu Darren F. Provine ...uunet!mimsy!kilroy "Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls." -- Paul [It seems to me that there has to be some intermediate position possible here. I think everyone realizes that in principle they could be wrong. However there are some issues where critical values are at stake and the issues seem clear. In such cases, we may well feel called to take a clear stand. Consider the Barmen Declaration from the German Confessing Church during World War II. This is a very uncompromising document. It says in no uncertain terms that Christians may not compromise the Gospel of Christ for nationalism. Somehow it would never occur to me to criticize the authors of that document for being intolerant. Is it just that I agree with them? I guess it possible that intolerance is exactly the same thing as being prophetic and standing up for important values, except that you use the term intolerance when you happen to disagree with the guy's values. But I had hoped for some better distinction. What I'm looking for is a way to characterize intolerance that is independent of whether I agree with the values being expressed, and which leaves room for things like the Barmen Declaration. --clh]