Respect without forced agreement
Religious tolerance is the willingness to allow people to follow different religious or non-theistic convictions, provided that their exercise of those convictions respects the equal rights and safety of others.
Beliefs and actions are different questions
Private convictions, theological interpretations and philosophical commitments deserve room for conscience. Public actions can also be examined when they cause harm, deny equal rights or interfere with another person’s freedom.
- Protect the freedom to adopt, change or reject a religion.
- Permit peaceful worship, association, teaching and expression.
- Assess conduct by its effects on people rather than by unfamiliarity alone.
- Apply rights and responsibilities consistently across traditions.
What tolerance does not require
Tolerance does not require anyone to accept every religion as equally true, abandon careful comparison, or become indifferent to cruelty and discrimination. Respectful disagreement and moral criticism can coexist with equal treatment.
Cooperation begins when communities distinguish disagreement about ideas from hostility toward people. Shared civic goals—such as safety, dignity, education and freedom of conscience—can provide a basis for working together without erasing meaningful differences.
Read more about difficult cases involving harm and the common good →