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Religious toleration is the condition of accepting or permitting others' religious beliefs and practices which disagree with one's own.

In a country with a state religion, toleration means that the government permits religious practices of other sects besides the state religion, and does not persecute believers in other faiths. Historically, toleration has been a contentious issue within many religions as well as between one religion and another. At issue is not merely whether other faiths should be permitted, but also whether a ruler who is a believer may practice or permit tolerance. In the Middle Ages, toleration of Judaism was a contentious issue throughout Christendom. Today, there are concerns about toleration of Christianity in Islamic states (see also dhimmi).

For individuals, religious toleration generally means an attitude of acceptance towards other people's religions. It does not mean that one views other religions as equally true; merely that others have the right to hold and practice their beliefs. Proselytism can be a contentious issue; it can be regarded as an offense against the validity of others' religions, or as an expression of one's own faith.

Timeline

• 539BC, Cyrus the Great issues a declaration of religious freedom; first known recorded history of religious tolerance.
• 311AD, The Roman Emperor Galerius issues a general edict of toleration in his own name and in those of Licinius and Constantine.
• 313AD, The Edict of Milan issued by the Emperors Constantine I and Licinius proclaiming religious toleration in the Roman Empire.
• 1190, Genghis Khan composes his code of law, the Yassa, in which there is religious freedom for all who were under his rule.
• 1554, Castellio writes the pamphlet "De haereticis, an sint persequendi" (Whether heretics should be persecuted), the first modern appeal for toleration.
• 1571, January 11 - Maximilian II declares religious toleration towards the nobles of Lower Austria, their families and workers;
• 1573, January 28 - Warsaw Confederation granting religious toleration.
• 1598, April 13 - King Henry IV of France issued the Edict of Nantes, allowing religious toleration of the Huguenots.
• 1609, July 6 - Rudolph II grants religious toleration in Bohemia.
• 1657, April 20 - New Amsterdam granted religious toleration to Jews;
• 1829, April 13 - British Parliament granted Catholic Emancipation in the spirit of religious toleration;
• 1900 Robert G. Ingersoll publishes his plea for religious liberty.
• 1948, December 10 The United Nations General Assembly issues the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 18 declares that everyone has the right to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, and to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
• 1965, December 7 The Roman Catholic Church Vatican II Council issues the decree Dignitatis Humanae (Religious Freedom) that states that all people must have the right to religious freedom.
• 1986, October 7 The first World Day of Prayer for Peace is held in Assisi when representatives of one hundred and twenty different religions came together for prayer to their God or Gods.
• 1988, April 29 - in the spirit of Glasnost, Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev promised increased religious toleration.

Criticism

Contemporary authors such as Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Daniel C. Dennett have all written about the potential social hazards of allowing religious beliefs to go unchallenged. In The End of Faith, Sam Harris notes that we are unwilling, as a society, to tolerate unjustified beliefs in, for example, architecture. He asserts that we should be similarly unwilling to tolerate unjustified beliefs about morality, spirituality, politics, and the origin of humanity. In his preface to The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins says, "If this book works as I intend, religious readers who open it will be atheists when they put it down."

See also

• Freedom of religion
• Status of religious freedom by country
• State religion
• Religious pluralism
• State church
• Tolerance
• Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance

Further reading

• Barzilai, Gad (2007). Law and Religion. Ashgate. ISBN 978-0-7546-2494-3.
• Beneke, Chris (2006-09-20). Beyond Toleration: The Religious Origins of American Pluralism. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 0-19-530555-8.
• Coffey, John (2000). Persecution and Toleration in Protestant England, 1558-1689. Longman Publishing Group. ISBN 0-582-30465-2.
• Curry, Thomas J. (1989-12-19). Church and State in America to the Passage of the First Amendment. Oxford University Press; Reprint edition (December 19, 1989). ISBN 0-19-505181-5.
• Grell, Ole Peter, and Roy Porter, ed. (2000). Toleration in Enlightenment Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521651967.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
• Hamilton, Marci A. (2005-06-17). God vs. the Gavel : Religion and the Rule of Law. Edward R. Becker (Foreword. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-85304-4.
• Hanson, Charles P. (1998). Necessary Virtue: The Pragmatic Origins of Religious Liberty in New England. University Press of Virginia. ISBN 0813917948.
• Laursen, John Christian and Nederman, Cary, ed. (1997). Beyond the Persecuting Society: Religious Toleration Before the Enlightenment. University of Pennsylvania Press (December 1997). ISBN 0-8122-3331-X. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
• Murphy, Andrew R. (2001). Conscience and Community: Revisiting Toleration and Religious Dissent in Early Modern England and America. Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 0-271-02105-5. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
• Zagorin, Perez (2003). How the Idea of Religious Toleration Came to the West. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-12142-7.

References

1. British Museum, The Cyrus Cylinder, retrieved 01 June 2007
2. "Valerius Maximianus Galerius", Karl Hoeber, Catholic Encyclopedia 1909 Ed, retrieved 01 June 2007.
3. "Constantine I", Encyclopedia Britannica 1911 Ed. retrieved 01 June 2007.
4. "Johann Brenz" Encyclopedia Britannica 1911 Ed. retrieved 01 June 2007.
5. "Toleration--Exercitium Religionis Privatum", Walter Grossman, Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 40, No. 1 (Jan. - Mar., 1979), pp. 129-134, retrieved 01 June 2007.
6. "The Confederation of Warsaw of 28th of January 1573, UNESCO, retrieved 01 June 2007.
7. "Edict of Nantes", Encyclopedia Britannica 15th Edition, retrieved 01 June 2007.
8. "Rudolph II", Encyclopedia Britannica 15 Edition, retrieved 01 June 2007.
9. "The Universal Declaration of Human Rights", United Nations 1948, retrieved 01 June 2007.
10. "Dignitatis Humanae", Decree on Religious Freedom, 1965, retrieved 01 June 2007.
11. "ADDRESS OF JOHN PAUL II TO THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCHES AND ECCLESIAL COMMUNITIES AND OF THE WORLD RELIGIONS" 1986, retrieved 01 June 2007.
12. "Russia", Encyclopedia Britannica 15th edition, retrieved 01 June 2007.
13. Dawkins, Richard. Preface The God Delusion.

External links

• Background to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• Text of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• Jehovah's witnesses: European Court of Human rights, Freedom of Religion, Speech, and Association in Europe
• Spiritual Education Lesson Plans Bringing children and parents from diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds together to learn about religion in a holistic manner fosters mutual trust, promotes community building, and helps replace fear and fanaticism with empathy and cooperation. Lesson plans and supplementary materials from www.spiritual-education.org
• Vindicated by Time: The Niyogi Committee Report On Christian Missionary Activities: vol I.3 chapter I
• "Religious Tolerance Roundtables". Human Rights website of the Church of Scientology International. Church of Scientology. Retrieved 2006-10-12.
• "Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance". Various information on sensible religious topics. Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance.
• Template:Dmoz
• History of Religious Tolerance
• Catholic Encyclopedia "Religious Toleration"
• The Foundation against Intolerance of Religious Minorities

• Human rights
• Religion and politics