Religious Tolerance?

On the Teaching Tolerance website, Thom Ronk cites a quote by Jonathan Swift: "We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another." Unfortunately, I think this is true in many cases.

I've already mentioned a book that someone sent me, that purports to give people a reason to live a good life. Sounds OK to me, but when I opened the book at random, I came upon some words that said in effect: "If you do not believe what I believe, even though you have never heard of what I believe, because you lived on a tropical island somewhere... you will burn in the everlasting fire of hell!" Give me a break! What kind of belief is that!

Why do the Sunnis hate the Shiites, and vice versa? Isn't it the same religion? The same religious book? Or am I missing something?

Why do the Catholics hate the Protestants in Ireland, and vice versa? Isn't it the same religion? The same religious book? Or am I missing something?

Years ago, the TV program Star Trek had an episode I found very interesting. The people in this portion of the galaxy were bi-colored. One half of their bodies was white, the other half was black. Most of these people hated each other and continually fought. When asked why they fought each other, they were told "Can't you see? It's perfectly clear. They are different from us and obviously inferior." Captain Kirk said: "Wait a minute, you look alike to me." The answer was: "But, are you blind? Don't you see that their colors are on the opposite side of their bodies from ours!"

A few years ago, the little girl next door came home from her first day in the second grade. My wife asked her how she liked her new teacher. The little girl said: "Miss Elaine, she's black."

"Yes, but is she nice?"

"Miss Elaine, she's black."

"But do you like her?"

"Miss Elaine, she's black."

What is this little girl learning in Sunday School... or at the kitchen table?

As an empath, I get a sick feeling in my stomach when supposedly religious people talk trash about people they don't like, or who are different from themselves. Some even bad-mouth President Obama. Is he a bad man? Why compare him to a maniac like Hitler?

And why do supposedly religious people forward demeaning and false emails about the President and his Administration? It is so easy to do a fact check these days.. why not do that first?

I detect an underlying racism in most of these utterances of the so-called religious right. I hope I am wrong, but I don't think so. I would hope that our country has progressed a bit since the days before the Civil War. It is discouraging to me to see a "closet racist" point to their cheek when talking about a black person.. although at least it is a little better than using the "n" word.

And yet.. there are religious and non-religious people I know who do truly love their neighbors and are tolerant of others who are different from themselves and try to lead ethical lives. Isn't this what it really means to be a human being?

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