A Few Words on Intolerance
By Reverend Corinne S. Ramage.

I recently came across some interesting, thought provoking evidence of *Tolerance expressed in very intolerant times in history when suspicion and persecution were the norm. This *Tolerant country protected religious freedom in the Middle Ages. Violent wars were being fought in Europe and between 1520 and 1565 some 3000 people were executed as heretics. The small *Tolerant country of Transylvania stood alone during these times.

Between 1544 and 1574, the Transylvanian Parliament passed 22 laws granting religious freedom. In a landmark doctrine called the Diet of Torda in 1557, Queen Isabella and her son John II Sigismund decreed “that each person maintain whatever religious faith he wishes…as long as they bring no harm to bear on anyone at all…Each may embrace the religion he prefers without compulsion, and may be free to support preachers of his own faith.” These were very unique proclamations in these times.

In relation to each individual’s right to freely choose their faith and to monitor their own life choices, King John II Sigismund in October 1569 declared, “Conscience cannot be forced…We demand that in our dominions there shall be freedom of conscience.”

(King John was injured on a hunting trip and died of his injuries at the age of 30 after which intolerance for those with the “wrong religious opinions” continued to spread. For forty more years heretics would continue to be burned at the stake in England.)

Religious intolerance and the manipulation of our conscience continues today. It is an ugly truth that permeates world culture. Each religion feels it embodies the higher truth and that all others have it wrong. In some countries today, like the Middle East, this intolerance explodes into physical confrontation and the intent to harm those who pray to another creator source energy. In other countries, like the United States, the intolerance simmers beneath the surface but can still be felt. The gross majority of faiths practiced in the United States accept only one definition of the creator. Each one of the faiths in the world implies the other doesn’t have it right and is, therefore, beneath them.

The majority of the world’s religions teach communion but practice separation and intolerance.

What motivates severe judgment of others?
Fear is one answer – the fear of not being right or being aligned with the wrong creator, the fear of being damned for all eternity, and the fear of persecution.

What keeps us in judgment of others?
The teachings of a faith that require blind obedience for salvation keep us fearful of even considering the validity of another tradition – and even being able to see how alike they all are.

Intolerance is triggered by fear. Fear becomes judgment, closed elitist attitudes and suspicion. Fear left to fester eventually manifests as open hatred. Hatred harbored and nurtured leads to violence.

If we avoid or deny fear, which appears to be a powerful motivator, are we missing the Hidden Teachings being offered to us? Fear is a powerful emotion, as is hatred and is, therefore, rich in potential revelations.

In a world rich in diversity, why would our overwhelming universal drive be conformity?
Who decides the truth in religion, politics, or even lifestyle?
Shouldn’t all individuals, worldwide, have the freedom to choose – as long as “they bring no harm to bear on anyone at all?” as King John declared. Make sure you carefully examine what you consider to be harm. Haven’t the pharmaceutical companies and the FDA in the United States in recent times released toxic drugs, lethal diet aids, and poisonous artificial sweeteners on unsuspecting citizens being used to test these products – as they surely weren’t adequately tested before being released? Many of the decisions made in the Untied States are based on economic concerns, not humanitarian concerns.

Be sure to align yourself with what you know to be true in your Heart, not what you are told. “Freedom of conscience” is an important and as illusive today as it was in Transylvania in 1569. Do you really know what you believe to be true?

Conformity breeds lack of creativity. There is no questioning, wondering and no opportunity for individual revelation. But the war of intolerance rages on today, each side claiming the higher truth. The difference today as opposed to the Middle Ages is that at that time the fight was personal, one person to the other. You looked your enemy in the eye in battle. Today the language of intolerance is cloaked in higher truths, and economic and political rhetoric. The fear and the hate are festering. The new war of intolerance has new dimensions. Words are heard instantly worldwide with their threats and innuendos, words that punish and judge severely. Weapons today are impersonal. They kill in broad sweeps of destruction of all life on Earth. We rarely look our enemy in the eye and see who they are. Do we have the courage to look in each other’s eyes and see that we are the same, that we both long to protect our families, to practice our own faith freely, to live and to Love?

There are no easy answers.

It is the history of mankind to be intolerant and violent. Are we destined to kill each other? Can the Divine Plan be that we are to obliterate each other? I don’t think so. Our destiny is to master our fears, to find the Hidden Teachings in our actions, and to practice the communion we all preach.

What can you do?
Take time to pray for *Tolerance every day.
Make the work of *Tolerance personal. Find the Hidden Teachings in your fears. Presume fear and judgment are of Divine inspiration. What is the Divine drawing you into for revelation? Your fears are archetypal as they are mankind’s concerns. Who you are reflects the world. And…if the world is in a battle of intolerance, so are we individually. Meet the challenge. Heal yourself…Heal the world. Pray for *Tolerance worldwide and personally.

*Tolerance doesn’t mean you lovingly embrace all people and all beliefs blindly. You are entitled to your own opinion – as are others. *Tolerance means you *Allow for all possibilities of expression. There is a deeper, more encompassing Love at the root of *Tolerance than the Love in the human Heart. It is the Love of the Sacred Heart that must be rallied, touched, contacted and expressed.

History shows us that millions of well-meaning, loving, intelligent people signed onto Hitler’s brand of intolerance. Be very careful of aligning yourself with intolerance today. The energy of intolerance, fear and hatred are the same no matter which side you think you are on. And, today, the stakes are very high.

*Tolerance has the potential to birth compromise.