Posted on Tuesday,

#14: What is True Tolerance?

What is true tolerance?

True tolerance is where we extend to each other the right to be wrong.

False tolerance, on the other hand, naïvely asserts that all ideas are created equal and this must be rejected. Not only is this obviously false, it’s unlivable.

Unfortunately, as Stephen Prothero has put it, “The ideal of religious tolerance has morphed into the straitjacket of religious agreement.”

Contrary to what is commonly believed, the height of intolerance is not disagreement, but rather removing the public space and opportunity for people to disagree. You can still love someone (more…)

Posted on Tuesday,

#7: Why Are You a Christian? [Podcast]

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Why are you a Christian?

If you ask a lot of Christians you’ll usually get one of these answers—I was raised in the church, my parents were Christians, I had a powerful experience or God changed my life. And I’m grateful for these answers.

But at the end of the day, the reason why I’m a Christian is because it’s true. I’m convinced it accurately describes reality.

And if you asked the Apostle Paul, he’d tell you the same thing. In his words, “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.” (see also 1 Cor. 15)

I’m a Christian because I believe Jesus rose from the dead. It was a real, historical event that you can investigate with eyes wide open. (more…)

Posted on Wednesday,

3 Lies Students Believe About Freedom That Will Ruin Their Lives

Our culture worships freedom. The only problem is that real freedom doesn’t mean what most people think it means. And the next generation of students are paying the price because they are being robbed of the life they are really after.

True happiness–“flourishing”–is only possible if students are able to break free from the lies and embrace genuine freedom.

3 Lies Students Believe About Freedom

(1) My choices only affect me. “You can do whatever you want as long as you don’t hurt someone.” This slogan is everywhere! Our culture perpetuates this lie but you need to know there are several fatal flaws with this way of thinking. First and foremost it (more…)

Posted on Tuesday,

How to Respond to the “All Religions Basically Teach the Same Thing” Slogan

Let’s be honest . . . we don’t like to offend people and we want people to like us.

Because of this, we let some pretty silly ideas go unchallenged in our culture today.

One perennial offender is the notion that all religions basically teach the same thing.

If anyone is to find the truth about God or ultimate reality, then this myth has to be dispensed with quickly.

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New York Times columnist Ross Douthat hits the nail on the head:

“The differences between religions are worth debating. Theology has consequences: It shapes lives, families, nations, cultures, wars; it can change 􏰀􏰁􏰂􏰃􏰄􏰅􏰆􏰇􏰅􏰇􏰈􏰉􏰄􏰊􏰂􏰉􏰋people, save them from themselves, and sometimes warp or even destroy them. If we tiptoe politely around this reality, then we betray every teacher, guru and philosopher—including Jesus of Nazareth and the Buddha both— who ever sought to resolve the most human of all problems: How then should we live?”

It is out of a sense of false tolerance that we think we are actually loving one another if we never challenge ideas that we believe to be false. In addition to this liability, we often lack the courage to (respectfully) say what needs to be said.

How to Respond to This Slogan in Conversation

With that in mind, the first thing to do when encountering this claim is (more…)

Posted on Friday,

Dallas Willard on Tolerance and Love

“Tolerance has suffered a great deal recently in our religious and political and educational areas. And tolerance, because truth has been pulled away from it, has slipped over into the idea that everything is equally right. No longer is tolerance a matter of saying, “I disagree with you and I believe you’re wrong, but I accept you and I extend to you the right to be wrong.” That’s not enough. We’re now in the situation where everyone must be equally right, where you cannot claim that people are wrong and still love them.” – Dallas Willard