CAN YOU BE A DEVOUTLY RELIGIOUS PERSON AND STILL BE TOLERANT

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I think a truly religious person, at the risk of sounding like a cliche, can easily do both.

"Hate the sin, love the sinner"

Jesus was tolerant of sinners, was kind to them and treated them like anyone else even though He taught them to abandon their sins or pay the price for them.

My impression is that He also realized people would slip occasionally, just as Peter did, but still loved them.

I like the concept of Agape love.

If you love someone as Christ did, whether you believe the Biblical Christ to be a person or an ideal, then tolerance is not necessary, because love trumps the need for tolerance. Tolerance is embodied in actual love.

Stop to think of it, true love trumps everything.

Unfortunately we seem to have sent it on vacation.

No! A deeply religious person is brought up to hate other religions.
Example: I've never know a Catholic who tolerated Judaism.

I might ask myself how much freedom of thought those people have had over history?? At one time people in that part of the world we very scholarly. You can bet your bottom dollar there are other faith missionaries over there. But there is an lot of focus on the Christian faith right now, for the good or bad.

So I also hear you saying that I "me" am not a very tolerant person. That I have to disagree with.

I think you must also consider than the Christian faith is a very small piece in the pie, of all faiths.

I'm an agnostic and am often accused of being anti-religion -- even an atheist. But even I would not make an absurd statement like that.

Don't get me wrong -- I understand that it may be technically true. You may know very few Catholics -- and each of them may be a bigot. But the implications of what you said here are laughable.

I would suggest anyone reading it should not consider it a statement about Catholicism -- but about New Haven.

The problem with your question is that there are two terms that are not defined and highly subjective.

What does it mean to be "deeply religious". Can you be, for instance a "deeply religious" Unitarian. Is being fully commited to a "God" that accepts all religions to the point of spending time every day in prayer considered deeply religious if you don't hold to a particular doctrine?

What does it mean to be "tolerant". If you disagree with someones way of life, but accept their right to exist -- is that tolerant. Can you believe that homosexuality is a "sin", but respect the homosexuals around you and support their rights and be considered "tolerant".

Couldn't all the talk about "fundamentalists" that is so popular on a2k be considered "intolerant"?

If you define these two highly subjective terms a bit better, we might have a chance to discuss your question in a rational way.

...and let's not forget the question was about a 'person', not the whole church or a group. I believe there is plenty of tolerant deeply religious people, I happen to know a few among my friends. They happen to judge people by their actions and kindness rather than their beliefs. Perhaps it is because they both consider their belief to be a very private matter and expect others to do so too. That cannot be said about most organized religions, but that is a different question altogether.

So glad I made your day, FRANK!

The most outspoken religious zealots certainly aren't very tolerant; but even though I too, am agnostic, I believe that a large portion (maybe not half, but a fair number) of deeply religious people are tolerant.

The knee-jerk religious use faith to justify their existing biases and hatreds.

The genuine 'seeker of truth' ought to be increasingly tolerant.

Hmm, I would not accuse all the Catholics in anti-Semitism. Many Catholic priests, monks and laymen saved Jews in Europe occupied by Nazis, and they did not condition rendering shelter by conversion to Christianity. Some of the people saved by them, in fact, converted later, but these were mainly orphaned children that did not have firm religious convictions, and they accepted religion of their adoptive parents. There was no coercion or "religious extortion" in process of saving lives.

I haven't know that many Catholics. Those, I've know didn't care for Jews or Judaism.

How about Catholic priests?

How many of them in France during the 2nd WW were instrumental in the imprisonment of Jews and gentiles( who were trying to protect Jews) by the Gestapo.

i stArted by disagreeing with New Haven, but Ive gotta say to Frank AND New Haven UMGAWA!!! settle down. im a recovering Catholic and, with the exception of an intolerance that CAtholicism invests on actions commited by other Catholics, Ive found this religion to be the most tolerant of the Christian sects (I dont believe hardly a word of the book "Hitlers Pope")

bi-Bear the "rules' of religious practice have all embraced tolerance. The "actual" practices are another thing. Whenever a religion states outright that its own revelation is the true one and any other is wrong, well...cmon. i dont see a group-hug ensuing.

e-Brown not to be a snotbag , but youve already grasped my question, so Im going no further with new definitions that you may find more comfortable to answer. "Only ask the questions that you wish to have answered is a legal trick" This is, to the best of my ability an inquiry that attempts to be a bit more scholarly than legal. im, in the big picture, searching the scope of religiosity

Husker. After the death of Muhammed Ali Christians used to convert to ISlam back and forth The rules and strictures werent that developed until the establishmnt of the papal authority and complete ownership of clerical property

islam still has a hard time with Christianity"They feel that christians have ignorantly, missed acceptance of all its prophets.
, especially the last one

Dagmarka I too know a "few" very tolerant deeply religious people, but theyre a minority.

MY 2 cent is this, in the guise of "Religious Freedom" the Evangelicals are now attempting to convert the Muslim population. The fundamentalists and Evangelicals have got so many 'us Versus Them" programs that , I feel they are setting up a Crusade mentality with Islam. Lookat their silly "Jews for Jesus" crap. While most Jews take it with a grain of salt and consider the source, the fundamentalists are in a missionary mode to try to push this program.

i dont even wanna get into the stuff that Franklin Graham is doing and saying. hes sided his mission with the Bush administration so Im sure that Muslims all over the world are going to look for the start of the First crusade of the new millenium. Now, would you call Franklin Graham tolerant? If you do, Im gonna jump down your throat.

Our local Christian-Jewish association is co-leaded by a Catholic priest, vice president is a protestant dean.

I don't see the big deal in tolerance. If you tolerate something you put up with it. You tolerate a urinary tract infection. No love in tolerance, just a very holier than thou condecension, IMO.

People who are tolerant are mighty busy patting themselves on the back about it it seems to me.

bear, tolerance , in this discussion, carries a much bigger moral overtone than 'tolerating a bladder infection". I believe, morally, you invest in yourself a respect that is based on a internal belief that everybodies different pOVs are worthy of respect.Its sorta mentioned in our Constitution about
'" congress shall make no laws establishing a state religion...'"

Farmerman- I agree with your definition. Therefore, I must conclude that people who proselytize are NOT tolerant. To those people, only THEIR way is worthy of respect. Anybody who attempts to change a person's religious views, especially when they go at it with a passion, is implicitly demonstrating that they are not tolerant of the other person's viewpoint, and believe that their views are the only correct ones.

I find Buddhism and Buddhists to be very tolerant - though i am sure there may be exceptions!

Buddhism has happily adapted itself to the religions extant in areas as it has spread, saying there are many paths.

My experience of Bahai is also of its being a very tolerant religion, though here my experience is very limited.

I have met some very tolerant christians - but these have generally been people who are quite critical of aspects of their chosen sect.

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=tolerate

Again I say, there is no love or inherent acceptance in tolerance.