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"We tolerate those we consider not good enough, but we do not extend our respect to them. Tolerance implies control over those who do not conform to our norms by allowing them some, though not all, of the rights and privileges we enjoy. A religion which involves the worship of false gods and whose adherents are referred to as heathens can be tolerated, but it cannot be respected. Tolerance is a patronizing posture, whereas respect implies that we consider the other to be equally legitimate – a position which some religions routinely deny to others, instead declaring these others to be idol worshippers or infidels and the like.... Tolerance, in short, is an outright insult; it is simply not good enough. pointed out that this notion of tolerance had emerged from religions built on exclusivist claims according to which other religions are false. Hence, tolerating them is the best one can do without undermining ones own claim to exclusivity. Religious tolerance was advocated in Europe after centuries of religious wars between adherents of the different denominations of Christianity. In many European countries, Churches functioned as religious monopolies according to which the mere practice of the wrong religion was a criminal offence. Tolerance was a positive attempt to quell the violence that had plagued Christianity for centuries in Europe, but it did not provide a genuine basis for real unity and cooperation, and so it often broke down."
Religious tolerance
