Religious Tolerance in World Religions

Religious Tolerance in World Religions  by Jacob Neusner and  Bruce Chilton -- West Conshohocken, Pa. : Templeton Foundation Press, 2008. ISBN: 9781599471365

Book Description

Today, and historically, religions often seem to be intolerant, narrow-minded, and zealous. But the record is not so one-sided. In Religious Tolerance in World Religions, numerous scholars offer perspectives on the "what" and "why" traditions of tolerance in world religions, beginning with the pre-Christian West, Greco-Roman paganism, and ancient Israelite Monotheism and moving into modern religions such as Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism. By tolerance the authors mean "the capacity to live with religious difference, and by toleration, the theory that permits a majority religion to accommodate the presence of a minority religion."
The volume is introduced with a summary of a recent survey that sought to identify the capacity of religions to tolerate one another in theory and in practice. Eleven religious communities in seven nations were polled on questions that ranged from equality of religious practitioners to consequences of disobedience. The essays frame the provocative analysis of how a religious system in its political statement produces categories of tolerance that can be explained in that system’s logical context. Past and present beliefs, practices, and definitions of social order are examined in terms of how they support tolerance for other religious groups as a matter of public policy.
Religious Tolerance in World Religions focuses attention on the attitude "that the ’infidel’ or non-believer may be accorded an honorable position within the social order defined by Islam or Christianity or Judaism or Buddhism or Hinduism, and so on." It is a timely reference for colleges and universities and for makers of public policy.

Book reviews are in:

• Motley, Sarah. "Religious Tolerance In World Religions By Jacob Neusner & Bruce Chilton (Eds)." Ecumenical Review 61.4 (2009): 434-436.
• Erlewine, R. (2011), Religious Tolerance in World Religions – Edited by Jacob Neusner and Bruce Chilton. Religious Studies Review, 37: 10
• Motley, Sarah. "Jacob Neusner & Bruce Chilton (eds), Religious Tolerance in World Religions." The Ecumenical Review 61.4 (2009): 434+.

On the same shelf:

• Monotheism and Tolerance: Recovering a Religion of Reason (Indiana Series in the Philosophy of Religion)  Robert Erlewine
• East West - Sword and Word  Anwar a. Abdullah
• Secular Hope: What the Religious Right Really Wants and Why Liberal Democrats Should Support Them  Andrea L. Parliament
• Secular Hope: What the Religious Right Really Wants and Why Liberal Democrats Should Support Them  Andrea L. Parliament 
• Exclusiveness and Tolerance: Studies in Jewish-Gentile Relations in Medieval and Modern Times (Scripta Judaica, 3)  Jacob Katz

There can be no goodwill if we only tolerate each other

Dear Friends and Family, Greetings on Guru Nanak's Birthday!
I thought this message from Judge Mota Singh of UK might interest some of you. Amritjit Singh

The message is written by His Honour Sir Judge Mota Singh QC, a former Crown Court judge in the UK, who has received many lifetime achievement awards. He has been an advisor to the non-profit organization "United Sikhs" for Sikhs' Right To Turban campaign under which we won three cases at the UN against France’s ban on the turban in schools and on ID photo documents...

"Sikh  spiritual tradition is not content with mere toleration. There can be no goodwill if we only tolerate each other. Many thinkers rebuke the habit of condescending toleration. We must appreciate all faiths, recognise that they offer rich spiritual experiences and encourage sacrificial living and inspire their followers to a nobler way of life. The Sikh Gurus had this noble quality of appreciation of whatever was valuable in other religious traditions. The more we understand one another, the more we find we are like one another..." continue reading SikhSiyasat.Net

On the same shelf:

• The Surprising Pope: Understanding the Thought of John Paul II (Religion, Politics, and Society in the New Millennium)   O.P. Zieba Maciej  -- "What kind of brothers and sisters in Christ would we have if we only tolerate each other? To "bear one another up in love" means more than to tolerate." (p. 149)
• My Path to World Faith & Love at Home, by Frankie Fredericks, Executive Director of World Faith "After studies in Greece and Italy, I went to Egypt to explore Christian-Muslim relations through independent research. Witnessing how mere coexistance and tolerance will never create greater community and understanding, rather than finding answers, I began discovering
  new questions.  If we only tolerate each other, how can we create a space where religious identity is no longer a source of divisiveness?"
• Tolerance in Islam (Lessons from history), By: Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall.  "There is no doubt but that, in the eyes of history, religious toleration is the highest evidence of culture in a people. Let no Muslim, when looking on the ruin of the Muslim realm which was compassed through the agency of those very peoples whom the Muslims had tolerated and protected through the centuries when Western Europe thought it a religious duty to exterminate or forcibly convert all peoples of another faith than theirs - let no Muslim, seeing this, imagine that toleration is a weakness in Islam. It is the greatest strength of Islam because it is the attitude of truth. Allah is not the God of the Jews or the Christians or the Muslims only, any more than the sun shines or the rain falls for Jews or Christians or Muslims only."           

What a Rabbi Learns from Muhammad: IslamiCity

By: Rabbi Allen S. Maller
IslamiCity

Extract:
I first studied Islam when I was a student at UCLA almost 50 years ago, Then again while I was in Rabbinical school. Over the years I continued to read the Qur'an and other Islamic books. I read these books as the Prophet taught his followers in a Hadith "not as a believer, and not as a disbeliever". What does that mean? ...

...I would like to begin by sharing my understanding of several Ahadith that have taught me about my own religion. My understanding is reflected in my application (gloss) of each insight from my perspective as a Liberal/Reform Rabbi.

...Most Americans that I have spoken are amazed to hear such liberal and flexible statements coming from a religion that they think is ridged and fanatical.

...Nevertheless as a Reform Rabbi, I realize that in many ways Muhammad showed seventh century Jews in Arabia how to reform Orthodox Judaism to bring it back to the simpler rules of the Torah.. continue reading: What a Rabbi Learns from Muhammad @ IslamiCity* -

On the same shelf:

A Reform Rabbi Learns from Muhammad, By Rabbi Allen S. Maller, in The Fountain Magazine, March - April 2008: Issue 62.

Understanding Islam: The First Ten Steps [Written by a Fellow in Christian-Muslim Relations]

Do I Kneel or Do I Bow?

Did the Jews pray as Muslims do ?!

Leave quotation of sacred texts to theologians

By Haroon Siddiqui Toronto Star, Sep 12 2010
Extract:

"Pastor Terry Jones wanted to burn the Qur’an because he believes it preaches violence. That, in fact, has been an article of faith for critics of Islam post-9/11. “See, it says right here,” they say, pointing to the “Sword Verses,” of which they are a dozen. They quote them selectively, as does Osama bin Laden — he to justify violent jihad, they to demonize Islam...

In fact, Philip Jenkins, professor of religion at Penn State University and author of Jesus Wars and Dark Passages, has argued that “the scriptures in the Qur’an are far less bloody and less violent than those in the Bible. There’s a specific kind of warfare laid down in the Bible which we can only call genocide..." continue reading

On the same shelf:

Is The Bible More Violent Than The Quran?
by Barbara Bradley Hagerty

Extract: "Much to my surprise, the Islamic scriptures in the Quran were actually far less bloody and less violent than those in the Bible," Jenkins says.

Jenkins is a professor at Penn State University and author of two books dealing with the issue: the recently published Jesus Wars, and Dark Passages , which has not been published but is already drawing controversy.

Violence in the Quran, he and others say, is largely a defense against attack.

Philip Jenkins:
"The book I am working on right now is called Dark Passages: How Religions Learn to Forget Their Bloody Origins..."

India: A Glimpse of Multifaith Composite Culture

Note: This post coincides with the world wide celebrations of Hindi Day, a language that co-exists in the name of Hindustani, more here and here: Simplify Hindi news to reach masses: Ambika Soni









On the same shelf:

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Multifaith Perspective

Faith and the city: Just one prayer away from God

According to the Quality of Life survey by DNA and AZ research, overall 55% of adults in the city pray, whereas the number of people who meditate is seen to be rising, especially in Mumbai city. In fact, the survey findings indicate that meditation as a habit has become quite popular in central suburbs and central Mumbai.

DECCANI HINDI GAVE BIRTH TO URDU

Chowk: Books Arts & Culture: Story of Hindustani II

Hindi or Hindustani -the Differences in Various Forms of Hindi Spoken And Written in India

Hindi Day celebration from Sep 14, 2010

Mind Your Language: Needed, a National Script! by Rajinder Puri

Elegy for India, by Gamal Nkrumah, Al-Ahram Weekly

US gives India high marks on religious freedom

Mahatma Gandhi and the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (PBUH)

By Asghar Ali Engineer

Note: This imaginary dialogue between Gandhiji and the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) is to clarify many misunderstandings which are being spread about Islam and Muslims. My mission in life is to promote peace and inter-religious understanding and to struggle against religious fanaticism and extremism. As I have deep conviction about teachings of Islam, I am also great admirer of Gandhiji and his philosophy of non-violence. (A.E.)

Gandhiji: I have drawn inspiration from Islam as much as from Christianity. Islam’s emphasis on justice, equality and human dignity has always attracted me as love and forgiveness of Christianity. The Sermon on the Mount specially attracted my attention. As you know I am deeply committed to philosophy of non-violence and it is in this respect that I am approaching you to know more in depth about Islam’s teachings about non-violence. It is necessary as Islam and terrorism are being equated by some anti Islamic forces and it is you who can help dispel these attacks on Islam. Who can be the better person than you, O Prophet of Islam.

Prophet: I am so much pained that Islam is under attack today whereas 21st century should have been the most appropriate period to appreciate its teachings. Yes, I admit there are all kinds of people in any religion and some may be motivated by their own selfish interests and indulge in violence or other misdeeds but a religion should be judged by its core teachings, not by what some followers do. I hope you will agree with me.

Gandhiji: Yes I do agree with you sir, the great Prophet of Islam. continue reading: Gandhiji and the Prophet (PBUH),

Terrorism is not a Muslim monopoly, Times of India

Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar, TNN, Jul 23, 2006,

"All Muslims may not be terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims." This comment , frequently heard after the Mumbai bomb blasts implies that terrorism is a Muslim specialty, if not a monopoly. The facts are very different. continue reading

Info courtesy: Mrs. Elizabeth Rahman, CEO of Metamorphosis Translation Services, and co-hosts the Annual Abraham Festival in Peterborough.

Jihad jitters at Comedy Central

Margaret Wente,, The Globe and Mail, The Globe and Mail

Why do we allow ourselves to be spooked?

What’s the lowest point in the history of American TV? The censorship of South Park could be it.
South Park is a hilarious, profane and potty-mouthed cartoon show that has been airing on The Comedy Network for nearly 14 years. This week’s Wednesday episode, featuring an irreverent treatment of the Prophet Mohammed, was altered by a frightened network. The network cancelled replays of the show and took it off the website. Episode 201 of South Park has officially ceased to exist.
The network did this in reaction to a single threat from a tiny group of nut-bars calling themselves Revolution Muslim. Here’s where things get surreal. This group was reacting to the episode of the week before – which dealt in a satirical way with threats over depicting the figure of Mohammed. continue reading: Jihad jitters at Comedy Central

French Catholic church warns against burqa ban

 Daily Times

PARIS: The French Catholic church warned Paris on Monday against banning the burqa and said France must respect the rights of Muslims if it wanted Islamic countries to do the same for their Christian minorities. Bishop Michel Santier, the top French Catholic official for inter-religious dialogue, said very few women in France wear full veils and Muslim leaders agree it is not obligatory in Islam. If Paris passed a law, Santier said, “The result could be the opposite of what is desired and lead to a reaction that increases the number of women wearing the burqa. “The French, including the Catholics among them, should not let themselves be gripped by fear or a ‘clash of civilisations’ theory,” he said. 

continue reading French Catholic church warns against burqa ban

See also on the same shelf:

• France to refuse citizenship to men who make wives wear burqas
  
• Veil ban would harm Christians in Muslim countries, French church warns
  
• We must respect Muslim rights if we want Islamic countries to respect our rights Daily Mail
  
• France: Catholic Church Rejects Ban on Full-Face Veils
  New York Times - ‎Feb 1, 2010‎
  
• view: The French burqa ban —Ishtiaq Ahmed, Daily Times
  

  The (French Parliamentary) commission recommended that if the government was going to ban the burqa, it should compensate by declaring as public holidays the religious festivals of Muslims and Jews. It also recommended that steps be taken to integrate Muslim and other minorities into the French mainstream
  

• French Catholics Warn Against Muslim Veil Ban, IslamOnline.net & News Agencies

  ...French Jewish leaders have already expressed concern about a veil ban.
  ...Prominent Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan has said that the French debate on the wearing of burka reflects growing self-doubts inside the society.

• The French Catholic Church warned Paris today against banning Muslim full-face veils The Ecumenical and Interfaith Commission of the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne

Interfaith Alliance head protests Bible verses on military gun sights

By Bob Allen, Thursday, January 21, 2010, Associated Baptist Press
WASHINGTON (ABP) -- A Baptist leader is calling on President Obama to conduct a formal investigation into revelations that a United States military contractor stamped references to Bible verses on combat rifle sights used, unknowingly, by troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Welton Gaddy, president of the Washington-based Interfaith Alliance, said the episode "is only the latest in a long line of violations of the boundaries between religion and government within the military." He urged Obama to develop guidelines that "ensure that religion no longer plays an inappropriate role in our armed forces."continue reading

See on the same shelf:

Justin Trottier: Weapons bearing scripture & google's Islam censorship: catch me tonight on the Michael Coren show CTS TV @ Facebook

Google struggles with religious sensitivity: "Google results offend Christians, but if you search for “Islam is” Google will give you no search suggestions.

You Can’t Make This Stuff Up—Bible Verses on Gun Sights Ronald A. Lindsay, January 21, 2010

More News via Google's images

Proselytization, admittedly, is fraught with complications - Thought for the day

By Michael Gerson, Friday, January 8, 2010 Washington Post:
"Proselytization, admittedly, is fraught with complications. We object to the practice when an unequal power relationship is involved -- a boss pressuring an employee. We are offended by brainwashing. Coercion and trickery violate the whole idea of free religious choice based on open discussion.

But none of this was present in Hume's appeal to Woods. A semi-retired broadcaster holds no unfair advantage over a multimillionaire athlete. Hume was engaged in persuasion.

"Persuasion, by contrast," argues political and social ethics professor Jean Bethke Elshtain, "begins with the presupposition that you are a moral agent, a being whose dignity no one is permitted to deny or to strip from you, and, from that stance of mutual respect, one offers arguments, or invites your participation, your sharing, in a community." 

The root of the anger against Hume is his religious exclusivity -- the belief, in Shuster's words, that "my faith is the right one." For this reason, according to Shales, Hume has "dissed about half a billion Buddhists on the planet." Continue reading: Brit Hume's Tiger Woods remarks shine light on true intolerance

Reconciliation (Mantra): This is what the Dalai Lama has to say for 2009

Dalai Lama: "In today's highly interdependent world, individuals and nations can no longer resolve many of their problems by themselves. We need one another. We must therefore develop a sense of universal responsibility... It is our collective and individual responsibility to protect and nurture the global family, to support its weak members, and to preserve and tend to the environment in which we all live." quoted @ Invitation to the United Nations' International Year of Reconciliation 2009

On the Web you will find a version that states: "Dalai Lama has to say for each year..."


Information courtesy: Jay Bee. Thank You.

See also Waht The Dalai Lama has to say for year 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Interesting poll, posted Nov 2008 (now open for you to join).

Stitched together ~~ India's Composite Culture Revsited

Pradeep Magazine
December 16, 2008, Hindustan Times

"Among the many responses to the gruesome killings in Mumbai has been that of Muslims wearing black bands on Eid-ul-Adha. The act symbolised protest, pain and complete rejection of the killers.
But do Muslims need to go out of their way to proclaim to the world that the community does not endorse terrorism and are as angry and disgusted with what is happening as other communities in India? To have worn black bands on Eid was a touching gesture, akin to, say, Hindus doing the same on Diwali. But somehow, as a Hindu, I am disturbed to find my close friends having to wear bands to show their solidarity with the rest of India.

... But as an Indian I feel embarrassed to find one community having to wear ‘India’ on their sleeves, when we have all expressed our solidarity to fight this war together. I would feel humiliated if a day comes when, as a Hindu, I will have to wear black bands to proclaim to the world that I have nothing to do with Hindu surnames involved in acts of terror.
To my Muslim friends, all I can say is thanks for doing what you have done. But please don’t do it again. We are together in this fight against terror and for justice. " read full article

NB. Info courtesy: Ammar Ahtisham Ashraf

Hindu-Christian wedlock invalid & Avoid cow slaughter, Today's headlines in India

Avoid cow slaughter on Eid-ul-Azha: Deoband to Muslims

"Leading Islamic seminary Dar-ul-Uloom has suggested to Muslims in the country that they avoid slaughtering cows on Eid-ul-Azha as a mark of respect to the religious beliefs of Hindus." Continue reading

Marriage between a Hindu and non-Hindu under Hindu Marriage Act not valid: High Court, Dec 31, 2010

Hindu-Christian wedlock invalid under Hindu Marriage Act
"Marriage between a Hindu and a Christian is invalid under the Hindu Marriage Act, as the Act provides for only Hindu couples to enter into a wedlock, the Supreme Court has ruled." continue reading

See also books @ Amazon on Hindu Marriage Act:

Gay sex: ‘Use science, not religion to justify ban’

Expressindia » Story

New Delhi, October 15: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday pulled up the Centre for relying on religious texts to justify ban on gay sex and asked it to come up with scientific reports to justify it.
The court's observation came while hearing a PIL filed by gay activists seeking to decriminalise gay sex among consenting adults.
Additional Solicitor General P P Malhotra, appearing for the Centre, cited an article which contained quotes from religious texts to justify the ban.
Not satisfied with the government contention, the Bench, also comprising Justice S Muralidhar, asked the government to show scientific proof that gay sex is harmful to society.
"This is just one-sided version of a religious body which cannot be relied upon. This is part of religious doctrine. Show us some scientific report which says that gay sex should be criminalised," a Division Bench headed by Chief Justice A P Shah said.
Earlier, the Centre had justified the criminal provision against homosexual acts and had said that it is required to curb the spread of HIV infection.
It had further said that homosexual behaviour is a reflection of a perverse mind and it could not be allowed in the society.
The petitioner, Naz Foundation, an NGO, had said that Section 377 which criminalises homosexual acts is unconstitutional and it should be amended to allow gay sex among consenting adults.

Race divide fears over first Hindu state school

Tim Ross, Education Correspondent, Evening Standard. 01.09.08
England's first Hindu state school opens its doors to pupils this month amid fears that it will fuel racial segregation. continue reading

See also on the same shelf:

• Hindu state school opens- Uk to teach !! Black is bad karma


• BARNET: UK's first Hindu school opens


• Opening of first Hindu state school sparks fears it will fuel ...Daily Mail, UK - 1 Sep 2008


• Hindu state school beginning work - BBC NEWS / EDUCATION:
  FAITH SCHOOLS in UK
  > 6,850 out of a total of 21,000 schools, large majority either Church of England or Roman Catholic
  > 37 Jewish, 7 Muslim, 2 Sikh, 1 Greek Orthodox, 1 Seventh Day Adventist
  > 1.7 million pupils
  > 21% of faith school secondary pupils from ethnic minorities - 17% in non faith schools

Nonviolence as a Tactic for Change

By Dan Tow • Feb 5th, 2008 • Category: Pakistan Vote'08, Worth A Second Look • (9,853 views) • 22 Comments

I have recently finished reading the excellent biography Benjamin Franklin, by Edmund S. Morgan. Franklin is my personal favorite among the Founding Fathers of the United States of America, an inspirational example, and, by all accounts, a delightful and brilliant human being. I can’t presume to speak for what Franklin, dead more than 200 years, would say on current events, but I found profound inspiration from this fine book, nonetheless, and let it be to Franklin’s credit if anything I say here rings true, and to my own discredit if it does not. continue reading

In Qatar, Muslim, Jewish clerics meet

By BARBARA SURK, Associated Press Writer Fri May 16, 7:42 AM ET

DOHA, Qatar - More than a dozen rabbis, including two from Israel, were in attendance this week as this conservative Muslim sheikdom opened one of the Gulf's first scholarly centers dedicated to interfaith dialogue. Read more
[Info courtesy: Paul McKenna + Ryan Nutter]

In Qatar, Muslim, Jewish clerics meet WHDH-TV, MA - 6 hours ago DOHA, Qatar -- More than a dozen rabbis, including two from Israel, were in attendance this week as this conservative Muslim sheikdom opened one of the ...

Queen dons Muslim headscarf to visit Turkish mosque

"...it would be nice if leaders respected each other's religions like this more often," said one Turkish woman. (Reuters), Read more: Queen Elizabeth in Mosque, Veiled IslamOnline.net & Newspapers, May. 15, 2008

Queen dons Muslim headscarf to visit Turkish mosque By Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter, Telegraph, 15/05/2008
Wearing a Muslim-style headscarf and walking in stockinged feet, the Queen toured one of Turkey's most important mosques during her first state visit to the country in 37 years.

[info courtesy: Abdul Hai Patel]

2008 Multifaith Walk Against Violence.

We’re coming in your direction
Multi-faith Walk Against
Violence
April 20 to November 30
Cross-Canada Walk

The Walk is scheduled to begin on April 20 in Halifax and to end at around the end of November in Victoria, B.C. It represents a move on the part of the Multifaith community to unite in raising awareness about the effects of violence on every individual and how all forms of violence touch us. We also aim to provide a forum for all those who work with the victims of violence to speak their minds. Our target is broad - including domestic violence, elder abuse, gang violence, bullying, international violence and other forms of violence that prevent individuals and societies from reaching their full potential. In conclusion, invite members of all faiths to walk and talk with us, and to give a voice to the victims of violence and all those concerned enough to speak out. We would like to extend a formal invitation to members of your community, to join us when Imam Syed Soharwardy and other members of the core group begin their walk in Halifax.

If you are able to participate, or would like more information about the walk, please do not hesitate to contact me at this address or by phone at 403-618-0023. Call 1-800 - WALK ALL. (1-800-925-5255) ... Multifaith Walk Against Violence 15205 Park Lane NWCalgary, ABT3P 1A6

• A long walk to stamp out violenceTheChronicleHerald.ca, Canada - 21 Apr 2008
• MULTI-FAITH WALK AGAINST VIOLENCE (English)
  "Multifaith Walk Against Violence" represents a move to unite Canadians against all forms of violence. These include: child abuse, domestic violence, ...
• Encounters in Ecumenism View as HTML Apr 20- Nov 30 Multifaith Walk Against Violence (Halifax to Victoria). Email: walkagainstviolence@shaw.ca