Religious Tolerance - Important Issues - Essay Example

Christianity, the religion of Jesus Christ and his followers, is frequently described as the most tolerant of monotheistic religions. Perhaps this is true but Christianity is not without its history of forced conversion, pogroms, and religious intolerance. Although the founder of Protestantism and responsible for the historically significant schism within Christianity and the Catholic Church, Martin Luther also displayed a candid intolerance towards people who did not share his religious persuasion. Accordingly, Luther writes that the “Turks pretend, despite the Holy Scriptures, that they are the chosen people of God, descendants of Ishmael” and argues that they are slanderous, warlike, and barbaric.

Although he saves much disdain for the Catholic Church, the Muslims are to be feared, and their idolatry is not tolerated (Luther 116-117). Roger Williams, an early American settler and founder of what would later become Rhode Island, railed against the Catholic Church and Catholicism in general but also preached for a plurality of religious persuasions in the United States. Advocating religious tolerance and diversity in this new land he was a strong proponent of the division between church and state (Williams 117).

Accordingly, there is also a strong tradition of religious tolerance in Islam, dating back to the Middle Ages and the Empire of Akbar in the 16th century. Akbar, the Mughal Emperor of a vast Muslim-majority empire, represented an era of tolerance and openness to religions other than Islam and presided over a diverse population. Although a Muslim himself and presiding over a larger Muslim population, Akbar also reached out to the Hindus in his Empire and further drew inspiration from the Buddhists, Zoroastrians, and other religious denominations in the empire. According to a less than laudatory biographer, Christians were also integrated into the kingdom and encouraged their beliefs within the dominant religious framework of an Islamic Empire. Accordingly, “His Majesty firmly believed in the truth of the Christian religion…wishing to spread the doctrines of Jesus” (Bada’uni 105).

During the Ottoman Empire, the largest Muslim-majority empire the world has ever known, religious tolerance existed for more than four hundred years. An incredibly diverse kingdom where inter-communal peace reigned supreme, the Ottoman Empire established the dhimmi system which allowed for decentralized governance within the realm. Religion was an essential marker of identification and under Ottoman rule, each religious community had its garb and religious court system. Although Islam remained the dominant religion in the country, each minority religious group – Jews and Christians in particular – were afforded strong protection under the law. Furthermore, this was increased with the Tanzimat reforms introduced in the 19th century (Quatern 106-109). Read More