Tolerance and the 7th Temple Address

At this year's Temple Address (13 November 2007) we welcomed Sir Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregation of the Commonwealth, to help us launch the Alliance’s new campaign Values for Life: Tolerance.

In a wide ranging speech the Chief Rabbi said attempts to exclude faith from public dialogue are a form of intolerance. He said: "What I notice is the incivility of today’s atheists - the substitution of anger for argument, the misrepresentation of religious belief, the wilful misrepresentation of religious texts - and whose practitioners seem to me to be the intellectual equivalents of road rage."

Evangelical Alliance General Director Rev Joel Edwards, recently appointed as a commissioner to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said that secularists who would say people of faith cannot have a part in society's balance of rights, diversity and equality would betray history, as the roots of liberalism were religiously inspired.

"A tolerance which calls for the removal of conviction is no tolerance at all," said Mr Edwards.

In a new resource available entitled Three Concepts of Tolerance - an Evangelical Contribution Dr Justin Thacker, Head of Theology, writes: "Tolerance is central to how evangelical Christians understand and contribute to public policy and the wider 'politics' of equality. It is therefore essential for the Alliance to play an active part in this discourse as we seek to present Christ credibly as good news in the public square."

Dr R David Muir, Executive Director of Public Policy, in an article People Like Us for idea magazine commented: "Tolerance is more than just putting up with things that you don't necessarily like. We need to find a moral and pragmatic way to live in a democratic environment where we can be good citizens on the one hand and also good neighbours."

• Listen to Sir Jonathan Sacks address on tolerance 
• Read the full transcript of Sir Jonathan Sacks address on tolerance 
• Listen to the Questions and Answers following Sir Jonathan Sacks address 
• Listen to Joel Edwards response to Sir Jonathan Sacks' address 
• Read Three Concepts of Tolerance - an Evangelical Contribution 
• Read the idea magazine article People Like Us
• Read Joel's article Making Space for Difference (originally published in idea Sep/Oct 2007)
• Read Black and White in a Grey World by Joel Edwards (originally published in idea Nov/Dec 2007)

In Tolerance