The Gospel of Tolerance

I found this article that I found posted in an FB Orthodox group very interesting. Your thoughts would be appreciated.


The ‘Gospel’ of Tolerance: You Must Approve
by Jennifer Hartline -
Judge not me nor anything I say, do, or want, lest ye be judged intolerant


The Gospel of Tolerance really only has one rule: thou shalt tolerate any action, belief, lifestyle, agenda, and person except the person who believes a certain lifestyle, action or agenda is wrong and has the gall to say so out loud. The real goal here is not acceptance but submission. It’s not enough to “get along” or tolerate quietly. You must approve. You don’t dare disapprove publicly. Those who don’t tow the line will be punished. …


It used to be that we could hate the sin and love the sinner, but the problem is now we’re not allowed to hate the sin anymore! We have to love the sin, celebrate the sin, and above all, stop calling it sin!


Find your courage, people. The false gospel of tolerance is not our salvation and it will not bring us peace. There is Good News to share and we have to live it without fear!

For rest of article:
The ‘Gospel’ of Tolerance: You Must Approve | OrthodoxNet.com Blog

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The fuller the love, the fuller the knowledge of God.
The more ardent the love, the more fervent the prayer.
The more perfect the love, the holier the life." ~St. Silouan
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Very powerful. Thanks for sharing.

I find helpful the realization that "tolerance" actually means indifference - which is the true opposite of love and acceptance - we do not love what we merely tolerate nor merely tolerate what we love. That goes double for religious tolerance.

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“There are a dozen views about everything until you know the answer. Then there is never more than one.”


― C.S. Lewis, That Hideous Strength

This is a good thread, I'm glad someone is addressing the philosphy/religion of 'tolerance'. I really think there are more people who are bothered by it, but as soon as anyone says anything, it seems they are attacked instantly for it even within the church.

I like the illustration of the cliff. If someone is about to fall over a cliff, do we cheer them on and say "hey, have a nice trip"? No, we do whatever we can do convince him to go in the other direction so that he doesn't cause injury or even death to himself.

But the tolerance gospel has this idea that if people want to fall off a cliff, we should just let them without even trying to rescue them. It's sad and not very loving at all as one pointed out already.

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Thanks, everyone, for your comments. I tell you, when I read it, it was like a 2x4 hitting me aside the head - it was so blunt....BUT - Absolutely true!!!! It was refreshing, actually.

__________________
"The greater the love, the greater the sufferings of the soul.
The fuller the love, the fuller the knowledge of God.
The more ardent the love, the more fervent the prayer.
The more perfect the love, the holier the life." ~St. Silouan
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


The Father is my hope, the Son my refuge, the Holy Spirit my protection: All-Holy Trinity, glory to You!
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


PRAY constantly to FIND GOD.
LOVE greatly to KNOW GOD.
PARTAKE of His Sacraments to EXPERIENCE GOD.
~ from my little Orthodox Prayer book

I think the number one thing we are called to do is love others. This doesn't mean accepting and celebrating the sins of others, but it also doesn't mean acting maliciously or judgmentally towards others.

I heard a Roman Catholic priest once say "It isn't our job to judge them, it is our job to love them." These are basically my thoughts.

yeah, as Fr Thomas Hopko says, "If it ain't okay, you gotta tell them it ain't okay if you love them."

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"Everyone capable of thanksgiving is capable of joy and eternal salvation." -Fr. Alexander Schmemann

"The time of the end, though it seems to be near, we do not know. Let us then struggle while it is still day, with the time and the weapons which our All-merciful God has given us!" -Fr. Seraphim Rose

I honestly feel that the "gospel of tolerance" is the gospel of the devil.

Read Screwtape Letter by C.S. Lewis

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O Theotokos and Virgin, Rejoice!
O Mary, Full of Grace,
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
And blessed is the fruit of thy womb,
For thou hast borne the Savior of our souls.

+ + + + +

Glory to Jesus Christ!
Glory Forever!
O Giver of Life, Glory to Thee!

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Sure, I understand that. I've been in that realm for the past year or two. The problem is, I veer off the path a bit with this, and go a bit too much to the side of relativism and not saying anything to anybody who's doing something wrong (sinful), because I don't want them to think I'm not tolerant or a bigot. I found I was being somewhat lukewarm in that area without realizing it, even though I am so dedicated to my faith and beliefs.

So, this article puts things back into perspective for me. These types of things are great wake-ups when I start to veer a bit off the path. There's a fine balance there, indeed, that's very hard, in which we are to love all, but also it appears we are to not be afraid to speak up when something is morally wrong or spiritually damaging to our fellow human beings. This is the tricky part for us, especially in a society that is becoming more and more like that article says and for which I know people who think like what that author says in the article.

A good example is the story of Mother Gavrilia. She spoke so much on loving all and that was the most important and only thing we should be doing, basically. Everything revolved around that. But there are a few places in the book, in her letters, where she basically doesn't mince words. She writes a man who's cheating on his wife, and she is quite blunt with him. So, I suppose there's a time for reprimand or correction, but discerning when is the difficult time, imo.

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"The greater the love, the greater the sufferings of the soul.
The fuller the love, the fuller the knowledge of God.
The more ardent the love, the more fervent the prayer.
The more perfect the love, the holier the life." ~St. Silouan
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


The Father is my hope, the Son my refuge, the Holy Spirit my protection: All-Holy Trinity, glory to You!
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


PRAY constantly to FIND GOD.
LOVE greatly to KNOW GOD.
PARTAKE of His Sacraments to EXPERIENCE GOD.
~ from my little Orthodox Prayer book