A Fils for Your Thoughts

There are many religious individuals, or even scholars, who condemn religious tolerance – i.e. the acceptance of other religions and cooperation with their adherents – because it is considered to be the acceptance of falsehoods, and those who are propagating false beliefs.

This is especially critical when the beliefs promoted by other religions conflict with one’s own beliefs. That is, how can one assert the belief in a single deity, yet accept to interact with those who believe in multiple deities? How can one build ties with those who deny the prophethood of the one whose religion they follow?

Some of the points to note about religious tolerance are:

• To accept the existence of other religions does not mean that you accept their beliefs to be true, or equally valid to yours

• To interact with others from different faiths does not mean that you approve of all their actions

• Religious tolerance is to respect people’s freedom to think for themselves and choose their beliefs as they see fit, without the use of intimidation or compulsion

• Where people have disagreements about their beliefs or their customs or moral codes, they should be willing to discuss these matters, and to exchange their opinions

• To refuse to interact with others does not help you promote your religion. It is only through dialogue that people can form a better understanding of one another

The vast majority of people are divided into two main camps in their understanding of human nature:

The first group regards human beings as rational animals and are characterized by their use of reason. Therefore, emotions are considered to be an obstacle, distraction or disease, to be dismissed, disposed of or cured.

The second group, on the other hand, believes that to be human is to experience and embrace one’s emotions. Reason can cripple one’s emotional experience, and may cloud one’s intuitive judgments.

There is, however, a third understanding of how reason and emotions relate to human nature: since both exist within human beings, both form a part of our nature. We cannot side with reason and disregard our emotions, or judge by our emotions and dismiss reason.

Both reason and emotion are integral parts of what makes us human. However, reason and emotions have different roles to play in our lives. We cannot judge facts with emotions or experience feelings with reason, in the same way that we cannot smell with our ears or listen with our eyes.