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Preach tolerance

Perhaps she should go back into history and study the life history of the presidents of the United States. Thomas Jefferson, who once said: “I never will, by any wordor act, bow to the shrine of intolerance or admit a right of inquiry into the religious opinions of others.” Governments should tackle increased religious intolerance by promoting discussion both within religious groups and by ensuring that women and political leaders are involved in the talks.

Freedom of religion is the mother of all human rights and all human rights are universal and interconnected. In our world, certain religions or believers feel more and more threatened than before. Every religion is “bizarre” for those who do not accept its tenets. Acknowledging and allowing religious diversity is a necessary component of religious freedom and religious tolerance.

India’s BJP-led government’s reluctance to acknowledge religious tolerance are disturbing. The resurgence of this kind of thinking poses a profound threat to liberal societies, which are based on ideas of liberty and equality. This form of faith bashing is a serious concern. It was a continuation into the 1990s of the types of hatred, which fuelled the witch burnings of the renaissance, the Spanish inquisition, the Nazi holocaust.

The challenge facing the political and religious of mankind are to contemplate, with hearts filled with the spirit of compassion and desire for truth, the plight of humanity, and ask themselves whether they cannot, in humility, before the Almighty, submerge their differences in a great spirit of mutual forbearance that will enable them to work together for the advancement of religious understanding and political stability.