|
Intolerance
Ann Bendall, Nambour, Qld
Intolerance--lack of respect for practices and beliefs other then one's own--is one of the six mental poisons which "tremendously interfere with the spiritual progress of the evolving soul."
Jesus defined intolerance as "the mask covering up the entertainment of secret doubts as to the trueness of one's belief." He then went on to state, "No man is at any time disturbed by his neighbor's attitude when he has perfect confidence in the truth of that which he wholeheartedly believes.... Sincere men are unafraid of the critical examination of their true convictions and noble ideals." (1641)
Jesus never displayed intolerance to any person, but he was, "intolerant of sin. He was often mightily moved to resist that which was inimical to the welfare of his children on earth. But his indignation against sin never led to anger at the sinner." (1103)
In a similar vein Jesus said, "Tell my children that I am ruthless with sin and intolerant of iniquity. I am indeed meek and humble in the presence of my Father, but I am equally and relentlessly inexorable where there is deliberate evildoing and sinful rebellion against the will of my Father in heaven." (1766)
The apostle John was "somewhat bigoted and inordinately intolerant....But he was not the only one of the twelve who was tainted with this kind of self-esteem and superiority consciousness." (1955)
Obviously the flaws in this apostle's character were of concern for, in his final personal message to John, Jesus stated, "Give up your intolerance and learn to love men as I have loved you." (2047) It is interesting that this same John, right up to the crucifixion, was vying for the place of honor in the kingdom, despite being told by Jesus that this was a myth. But it is also interesting that John and his like-minded brother, James, chose the benign Alpheus twins to be apostles.
Intolerance seems to be part of the human condition, and displays itself either as intolerance for a group that holds differing beliefs from our own, or for individuals with whom we are in close association. We seem not to be able to allow other people to have beliefs, practices and habits different from our own.
Perhaps this is because, in attempting to live in harmony with others whilst retaining our preference to be cognitive misers (i.e. preferring not to have to think too deeply), we find it easier to live in the intellectual indolence of having close associates adopt our beliefs.
Few of us seem to be able to separate sin from sinner, and in our disapproval of the misbehavior of another, in effect we disapprove of that person and thus become isolated from them.
In one of his inspiring admonitions after his resurrection where he re-iterated his injunction to "love all men as I have loved you," Jesus reminded his disciples that they were "the children of light; therefore stumble not into the misunderstanding entanglements of mortal suspicion and human intolerance. If you are ennobled, by the grace of faith, to love unbelievers, should you not also equally love those who are your fellow believers in the far-spreading household of faith? Remember, as you love one another, all men will know that you are my disciples." (2041)
The underlying, and often unconscious, beliefs that we hold about ourselves and human nature influence and ultimately determine our ability and willingness to risk, to trust, to love, and to forgive.
Through the grace of the Spirit of Truth we all have the ability to see clearly, without defensiveness and without distortion. And we all have free will--the ability to choose how we respond to situations.
Pragmatically speaking, all we have to do in order to practice tolerance is to accept other people as they are, not as we would like them to be. This process is aided by asking ourselves, "Is this person consciously malevolent or, from their perspective, are they acting in good faith?
When it comes to intolerance for another group's religious beliefs, it is interesting that The Urantia Book affirms, "Only with revealed religion did autocratic and intolerant theologic egotism appear." (1012)
It appears that one of the risks with revealed religion is that it has the tendency to diminish the need for living faith:
"Faith never shuns the problem-solving duty of mortal living. Living faith does not foster bigotry, persecution, or intolerance." (1114)
|
|
