Religiosity and Levels of Tolerance

Earlier I noted that the authors of American Grace, Robert Putnam and David Campbell, had suggested that religious people are more generous and more likely to volunteer, not just for religious causes, but secular ones as well.   That's the good news, religious people tend to be more neighborly, but on darker side of things, they tend to be more intolerant of dissent and the civil liberties of others than are their secular neighbors.  The possible reason for this is that religious people tend to be more concerned about obedience than seculars, who are more likely to embrace self-reliance (which may explain why they are less engaged civically).  They suggest that "one reason that religious people are readier to suppress dissent seems to be that they are particularly concerned to safeguard authority" (American Grace, p. 489).   

But, that said, even the most religious Americans have become more tolerant of dissent than they were forty years ago -- despite all the recent intolerant rhetoric we've been hearing.   Still, the more you go to church, the more intolerant you seem to be. 

The authors write:

Something about American history over the last century led younger religious cohorts to adopt a "live and let live" attitude to cultural differences.  So the dark side of religion's civic impact has become slightly less dark in recent decades, but the shadow remains.  A substantial gap persists between religious American and secular Americans in their support for civil liberties, even among the youngest cohort.  (p. 487). 

 

As noted before, the reason for this is greater respect for authority, which is one of the reasons why I continue to say that if we're going to deal with social questions like homosexuality, we have to wrestle with those authorities that guide religious life.   

That said, we in the church need to be aware that one central reasons why younger adults are leaving the church or reject religion is that they perceive it to be intolerant, especially of especially of gays and lesbians.  So, the question then is this:  how do we remain true to our faith traditions and not be intolerant?  Or maybe the better question is this -- is at least  a degree of intolerance of other ideas and beliefs inherent in religion?  I'm not sure that it is, but it would appear that even the most broadminded of religious people express a degree of intolerance of certain ideas and practices.  So, what shall we do? 

Read the Qur'an Day on Sunday

Saturday is the 9th anniversary of the tragic 9-11 attacks, and as we've heard ad naseum, the pastor of a tiny little church in Florida is going to burn copies of the Qur'an.  It's unfortunate that the media has given this guy so much attention, but that bird has already flown.  So, how do we respond? 

My fellow blogger, James McGrath over at Exploring our Matrix has pointed us to a unique way of responding.  A pastor in Gainesville, Florida is suggesting that instead of burning Qur'ans, we might want to read from the Qur'an.  Mr. Jones admits he's never read the Qur'an, so he's no expert on what is contained inside.  James writes:

 Rev. Larry Reimer, minister at the United Church of Gainesville, Florida, recently proposed an alternative: the best way to protest what the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida is planning is to read the Qur'an. This seems an appropriate way to not interfere with the free speech of others, and yet use our own freedom to express our dismay at those who use their freedom to express intolerance and to attempt to provoke others to violence and conflict.

Laurie Lebo at Religion Dispatches adds her thoughts on this, so check it out. 

Thanks to James McGrath's helpful comment, we have a better source of the Qur'an for your reading efforts.  Click here to go to the Online Qur'an Project.