For my 300th post (at least, the one which WordPress numbers 300), I return to the theme of tolerance. A couple of weeks ago I quoted Justin Thacker of the Evangelical Alliance on Deciding to tolerate difference. In fact the article I quoted from was in part a trailer for a major speech on tolerance between religions by Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, which was given last night. Now Ruth Gledhill reports on the speech, and on the intolerant response to it from secularists.

See also what Joel Edwards actually said about tolerance in Ruth’s article in The Times. Here is an extract:

It is our task in this debate to persuade society that tolerance is not the absence of conviction, or even of conversion. It is the absence of coercion. In a liberal democracy it is more intolerant to disallow religious views based on secular prejudice …

It makes a nice change for religious people to be presented in the secular media as standing up for tolerance, and for secularists to be seen as opposing this.

One commenter on a previous post of mine implied that I supported coercion against practising homosexuals. I don’t. I do hold to the right of people to express their disapproval of homosexual practice. And I support the right, and the duty, of churches not to appoint practising homosexuals to positions of leadership. For other homosexuals, I leave the decision on whether to practise or not between them and God.