Tolerance…

In light of the anniversary of 9.11, I wanted to write about tolerance. Turning on the news this morning I see talk of a Pastor that hung a banner outside the church that said “Burn a Quran Day.” Wether or not the burning took place is not my object of focus. As a pastor and a man of God at the head of his church, to show such intolerance for others is what really shook me to my core. Have tolerance and respect for others. Tolerance for others faith, religion, beliefs, rituals, lifestyles, race, etc. I do not wish to get into a political debate, just to open everyone’s eyes to one thing: Respect.

Coming from my Christian background I know that the Bible teaches us to “love one another.” There is no clause that says, “unless their skin is another color” or “unless they don’t believe in your God.” Let me remind other Christians out there: “Thou shalt not judge.” Don’t worry about what others are doing, the only person you have to worry about is yourself.

“If you cannot see God in all, you cannot see God at all.”

Hatred is worldwide, but what’s most alarming is the locus of hatred encompasses religion also, the very institution that was meant to mitigate it. We find that every religion preaches universal love towards all mankind and makes it incumbent on its devotees to practice good ethical behaviour as a matter of duty. But we all know that there is a wide gap between precepts and practice in this regard. After all, respect for other religions should not come merely as a matter of good protocol, but it should arise spontaneously out of a deeper conviction of one’s own conceptual framework about the totality of the truth that is taught in one’s own religion.

“We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty, and some are dull. Some have weird names, and all are different colors. But they all have to live in the same box.”

“COEXIST is a way to demonstrate your support of religious freedom, tolerance and understanding.”

Coexist is a movement to help stop this worldwide problem.

Love & respect,