Truth and tolerance can occupy the same universe. Yet, if forced to choose, which would you take as your guiding principle? The choice seems obvious, yet there are many who have chosen tolerance as the trump card.
By tolerance let us assume the following definition from the American Heritage Dictionary: The capacity for or the practice of recognizing and respecting the beliefs or practices of others.
Now, ought we to be tolerant and strive for tolerance? Certainly. But at the sake of truth? Certainly not. This ordering of principles (tolerance trumping truth) seems absurd, but it is one that has been caught in the web of many American minds/worldviews.
Perhaps the best spiritual example of this worldview is Unitarian Universalism, or Unitarianism. The cornerstone of Unitarianism is not truth, but tolerance. One might say THE truth of Unitarianism is tolerance. Unitarian Universalism does not require its members to adhere to a specific set of beliefs. Rather, Unitarian "churches" are facilitators for the spiritual quests of its members. Thus, one can be an atheist, agnostic, buddhist, christian, wiccan, or any other religion and call Unitarian Universalism home. Of course, what this really amounts to is the absence of truth claims and the promotion of tolerance.
I prefer the harsh reality of truth, even if it means I am living contrary to it, than the warm embrace of tolerance. The two are not mutually exclusive, but we should take a closer look in order to examine in which camp we most often cast our lot. Tolerance is important because of the freedom it brings through the free flow of ideas. But what good is freedom if we must ignore the truth? Perhaps this is not freedom at all.
Soli Deo Gloria
By tolerance let us assume the following definition from the American Heritage Dictionary: The capacity for or the practice of recognizing and respecting the beliefs or practices of others.
Now, ought we to be tolerant and strive for tolerance? Certainly. But at the sake of truth? Certainly not. This ordering of principles (tolerance trumping truth) seems absurd, but it is one that has been caught in the web of many American minds/worldviews.
Perhaps the best spiritual example of this worldview is Unitarian Universalism, or Unitarianism. The cornerstone of Unitarianism is not truth, but tolerance. One might say THE truth of Unitarianism is tolerance. Unitarian Universalism does not require its members to adhere to a specific set of beliefs. Rather, Unitarian "churches" are facilitators for the spiritual quests of its members. Thus, one can be an atheist, agnostic, buddhist, christian, wiccan, or any other religion and call Unitarian Universalism home. Of course, what this really amounts to is the absence of truth claims and the promotion of tolerance.
I prefer the harsh reality of truth, even if it means I am living contrary to it, than the warm embrace of tolerance. The two are not mutually exclusive, but we should take a closer look in order to examine in which camp we most often cast our lot. Tolerance is important because of the freedom it brings through the free flow of ideas. But what good is freedom if we must ignore the truth? Perhaps this is not freedom at all.
Soli Deo Gloria
2 comments:
Good points. . .
Well one uppercase "T" Truth about Unitarian*Universalism is that Unitarian*Universalists are not quite as tolerant as they pretend to be in their religious propaganda and marketing materials. In fact, Unitarian*Universalist U*Us condone, and even effectively endorse, the anti-religious intolerance and bigotry of fundamentalist atheist "Humanist" U*Us including that of "Humanist" U*U clergy. Unitarian*Universalists are intolerant in various other ways as well. Try being a Republican in the "Church of the Far Left" and see just how welcome you are in a so-called "Welcoming Congregation". . .
You are quite right that Unitarian*Universalists have seriously devalued, if not outright abandoned, the search for capital T Truth inspite of fraudulent claims to the contrary. If you prefer the harsh reality of truth about Unitarian*Universalists you might want to visit The Emerson Avenger blog or just Google "Robin Edgar" and Unitarians. You might find these U*U Tube videos to be something of an eye-opener too. Seeing U*U intolerance, aversion to well documented Truth, and other U*U hypocrisy is believing. . .
Robin:
You raise an excellent point. In fact, it is one that I intended to reference but it escaped me. Namely, that Unitarian Universalism (and many other "tolerance" groups as well) preach tolerance in name only. If you were to attend services there, proclaiming that Jesus Christ is THE Way, Truth, and Life, I doubt that your viewpoint would be received with much tolerance, if any.
Thanks.
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