I sat down today to write on this topic, then remembered that
I wrote about it nearly two [three!] years ago. Topics of religious tolerance have been very much on my mind recently. In part because of the uproar over Richard Dawkins, but probably more because
we’re having a baby. And people seemed to really like the post way back when:
I have known many Christians who were quietly Christian, believing that their lives—not laws or t-shirts—were supposed to be the expression of their faith. No doubt many an atheist marched next to one or more of these Christians [ at a major pro-choice rally] and didn’t even know it. [ Where Is the Religious Left? ]
The point is worth repeating: a common attribute of liberal religious expression is that religion is personal. We’re seeing more and more religious liberals now as they feel under assault by the intolerant rhetoric of both aggressive atheism and fundamentalist religion. Liberal religions, particularly those that practice radical tolerance, tend to be non-confrontational; even defending ourselves is difficult.
