Mohandas K. Gandhi

“ It is at the heart of corruption, abuse of power, and untold human suffering. A dramatic occurrence like the destruction of the World Trade Center is only one of an endless number of tragedies caused by the truly deadly sin of intolerance. ”

“ Intolerance is a failure of intelligence. It acts upon conclusions without acknowledging the process which produced the conclusions. The Truth taught by the various religions of the world are conclusions. They have been arrived at and transmitted through human experience. The intolerant person neglects the process and proclaims his or her view as the only Truth. But in reality all Truths are products of inductive reasoning. ”

“ To say there is only one Truth-claim is to deny reality. It is unintelligent to do so.
Intolerance is an error of judgment about Ultimate Truth
Intolerance is a deadly sin because it is an error of judgment about Ultimate Truth. The Ultimate Truth is beyond the ability of any individual or institutional religion to comprehend. The wise person accepts this. The intolerant person does not. The intolerant person declares his particular way of thinking and acting as superior to all others. In effect, the intolerant person is insulting the God he says he is defending. ”

“ The wise person is tolerant of different understandings of God. Accepting the reality of an Ultimate Truth beyond our comprehension, the tolerant person lives in the world of relative truths. Mahatma Gandhi’s words on this matter are helpful. ”

“ The claim of the intolerant person may, of course, be true but intelligence sees a problem. The Truth proclaimed by the intolerant person is only one of many such claims which differ among themselves. ”

“ The intolerant person ignores what has been called the law of the forgotten breakthrough. This refers to the fact that religious movements begin with a founder who breaks through the accepted ways of thinking and behaving. ”