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Pied Piper of Atheism: Philip Pullman and Children's Fantasy
| Pete Vere and Sandra Miesel
God Is No Delusion: A Refutation of Richard Dawkins
| Thomas Crean, O.P.
Socrates Meets Descartes
| Peter Kreeft
Sermon in a Sentence: Saint Thomas Aquinas
| John McClernon
New Outpourings of the Spirit
| Joseph Ratzinger
Meet Henri De Lubac
| Rudolf Voderholzer
Marian Devotion in the Domestic Church
| Catherine & Peter Fournier
Joseph Ratzinger: Life in the Church and Living Theology
| Maximilian Heinrich Heim
The Greek Fathers: Their Lives and Adventures
| Adrian Fortescue
Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: The Letter to the Hebrews
| Scott Hahn and Curtis Mitch
Chastity, Poverty and Obedience
| Mother Mary Francis, P.C.C.
The Blessing of Christmas
| Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
Chance or Purpose?: Creation, Evolution, and a Rational Faith
| Chrisoph Cardinal Schšnborn
Island of the World: A Novel
| Michael O'Brien
The Order of Things
| James V. Schall, S.J.
The Judge: William P. Clark, Ronald Reagan's Top Hand
| Paul Kengor & Patricia Clark Doerner
Seek that Which is Above
| Pope Benedict XVI
Jesus, the Apostles and the Early Church
| Pope Benedict XVI
God and His Image: An Outline of Biblical Theology
| Dominique Barthelemey
An Invitation to Faith: An A to Z Primer on the Thought of Pope Benedict XVI
| Pope Benedict XVI
Mother Benedict: Foundress of the Abbey of Regina Laudis
| Antoinette Bosco
Pope Benedict XVI: The Conscience of Our Age
| Vincent Twomey
Ronald Knox as Apologist: Wit, Laughter and the Popish Creed
| Fr. Milton Walsh
Christians in China: A.D. 600-2000
| Jean Charbonnier
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Is Tolerance Intolerant? | by Dr. James Hitchcock
Print-friendly version
Shortly after Christmas a newspaper columnist produced what has now become
a holiday staple -- an essay lamenting the intolerance of those Christians
who favor symbolic public recognition of the season, such as Christmas carols
and nativity scenes, both of which have long been endemic in America. There
has, he feared, been an increase of tension over the issue, and he urged
that everyone be more understanding.
Readers who praised this seasonal sermon unwittingly revealed the fallacy
of the author's (and their own) position, which is that they alone truly
understand what religion means. These self-consciously tolerant people were
adamant that all religions must abandon claims to ultimate truth and admit
to being merely part of a vague human search for meaning. For the tolerant,
the chief problem is that not everyone agrees with them, and in the name
of tolerance they ask others to give up their most cherished beliefs.
Liberal secularists have made "tolerance" into the ultimate virtue, so basic
to their identities that they think of themselves as not even being capable
of prejudice, intolerance as something of which others, especially orthodox
religious believers, are guilty. But there is something odd about a program
of tolerance that so often turns on acts of exclusion -- keep religion out
of the public schools, take down nativity scenes and displays of the Ten
Commandments, forbid the singing of Christmas carols, etc. In this respect
"tolerance" has come to mean not expanding the scope of permitted behavior
but of restricting it.
Obviously religion has given rise to a great deal of intolerance throughout
history. But the greatest episode of persecution was not the Inquisition
but the terror imposed by officially secular, indeed officially atheistic,
states of the twentieth century, something that secularists almost never
mention, because somehow it just doesn't seem relevant. After all, everybody
knows that it is religion that produces intolerance.
Meanwhile, in the "Christmas wars" there have been increasing incidences
of vandalism of nativity scenes, as well as of churches generally, something
to which the media pay almost no attention. Anti-religious rhetoric on the
part of the "tolerant" has also been escalating, as in the television personality
Bill Maher's claim that religious believers are emotionally disturbed.
There is a common argument that understanding other faiths makes one more
tolerant. But what constitutes "understanding"? To the secularist mind it
means having a minimal abstract knowledge of another faith, of the kind
one might acquire in a freshman course on "world religions."
But true understanding, in this as other matters, requires some ability
to understand from the inside, to have a sympathetic comprehension of why
people believe what they believe, of what makes it seem true. When they
talk about religion, most secularists, in my experience, fit the description
of the tone-deaf man who thinks he is singing.
But behind the contradictions of secular liberal claims about tolerance
is an even more intriguing question -- is tolerance really the ultimate
virtue? Is it in fact a virtue at all? Possibly secular liberals cannot
really be tolerant because in some vague way they sense the emptiness of
that very ideal.
Dr. James Hitchcock, professor of history at St. Louis University,
writes and lectures on contemporary Church matters. His column appears in
the diocesan press. He is the author of several books, including The
Recovery of the Sacred, What is Secular Humanism?, and Years of Crisis:
Collected Essays, 1970-1983.
Princeton University Press just published his two-volume history of the
Supreme Court, The Supreme Court and Religion in American Life:
The Odyssey of the Religion Clauses (Vol. 1) and
From "Higher Law" to "Sectarian Scruples"
(Vol. 2). He is also a regular contributor to many Catholic periodicals,
including Catholic
World Report.
This article originally appeared in March 2005 on the Women
for Faith & Family website. It is reprinted by permission of the author.
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G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) was one of the finest Christian authors and apologists
of the past two hundred years. Raised as an agnostic, he embraced Christianity as a young man, ultimately entering the Catholic Church
in 1922. He wrote hundreds of essays, as well as novels, short stories, poetry, apologetics, literary
criticism, and nearly everything else imaginable. Dale Ahlquist, president and co-founder of the American
Chesterton Society and author of
G.K Chesterton: Apostle of Common Sense, writes, "Chesterton was equally at ease with literary and social criticism,
history, politics, economics, philosophy, and theology. His style is unmistakable, always marked
by humility, consistency, paradox, wit, and wonder. His writing remains as timely and as timeless
today as when it first appeared, even though much of it was published in throw away paper." Read more
about the life and work of this remarkable thinker, author, and apologist.
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Confessions of an Ex-Feminist
by Lorraine V. Murray
Confessions is the honest and heart-rending account of a woman who was born into a Catholic family, attended parochial schools and
fully embraced the beliefs of her faith, but ran into major roadblocks in college. Amidst the radical feminist college environment of
the 1960's, she lost her faith, and her morality, jumping aboard the bandwagon of "free love." She indulged in a series of love relationships
in college, all of which crashed and burned. Despite the obvious contradiction between feminist teachings and her own experience,
Murray still believed she had to free herself from the yoke of tradition. Attaining a doctorate in philosophy, with an emphasis on the
feminist writings of Simone de Beauvoir, Murray taught philosophy in college. For many years, she launched a personal vendetta against
God and the Catholic Church in the classroom, trying to persuade students that God did not exist, mocking values Catholics hold dear,
and touted feminism as the cure for many social ills. When she discovered she was pregnant, Murray followed the route that feminists
offer as a solution for unmarried women. Much to her surprise, her abortion was a shattering emotional experience, which she grieved
over for years. It was the first tragic chink in her feminist armor.
Read more about Confessions of an Ex-Feminist, or
read an excerpt from the book.
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