Book Review The New Tolerance

by Josh McDowell & Bob Hostetler
Tyndale Home Publishers Inc.
Wheaton, Illinois

Are you wondering why those who have religious faith and live by those beliefs have today been placed under such extreme attack by homosexuals and their enablers, the Human Rights Commissions?

Homosexuals claim that God-fearing individuals whose teachings prohibit homosexuality, whether Christian, Muslim, or Jew, are full of "hatred" and "intolerance" toward them. What has happened? Why is the coercive arm of the state (Human Rights Commissions) failing to protect religious freedom as proclaimed in the Charter of Rights and the Human Rights Acts? It is apparent today that religious and traditional values can no longer merely co-exist with homosexual norms. Instead, people who hold religious values are being hunted and punished.

The explanation for this curious and frightening development is found in the book The New Tolerance. The authors point out that truth is no longer accepted as definitive, but that "truth" is now interpreted as being only relative and that there are many different, even contradictory truths. This brave new idea posits that truth is created by humans, that all humans are created equal; therefore, all truths and hence, all opinions are equal. So, every individual's beliefs, values, lifestyle and "perceptions of truth claims" are considered equal. Such false premises prop up a false tolerance, which excludes any recognition of absolute truth, right and wrong, or objective reality. Under this system the ability to distinguish between right and wrong is lost. There can be no moral compass. Everyone decides his own moral right and wrong.

Requirement to Accept

Since truth is only relative, we are required not just to allow other "truths" to co-exist in our society, we are required to accept those beliefs as equally valid to our own. To refuse is to be characterized as being "intolerant" of others. That is, this so-called new "tolerance" of today is not a true tolerance but a coercion to accept, approve and participate in what is contrary to traditional beliefs and values.

A key tactic used to silence those who refuse to succumb to the new tolerance is name-calling and labeling. Those who dare express politically incorrect thoughts are called intolerant, fanatics, bigots, racist, prejudiced, hate mongers, phobic, etc. Non-conformity is styled as hate.

According to the authors, McDowell and Hostetler, "One of the tactics of the new tolerance is to respond to such thought crimes with punishment and persecution." This book provides examples of politically incorrect behaviour being punished by threats, expulsion from school, loss of employment and legal action.

The authors show how the new tolerance interferes with the rights of parents to educate their children according to their deeply held beliefs. They explain how it influences issues of church and state, life and death, marriage and sexuality. The new tolerance has infiltrated art and literature, entertainment, health and medicine, as well as science. It is very much a part of advocacy for pluralism, multiculturalism and environmentalism.

Another aspect of the new tolerance is the personalization of judgement. Who I am is what I do. If someone expresses any disagreement with another's beliefs or actions, he is accused of disparaging him personally.

If someone states that a certain behaviour is wrong or harmful, he is accused of judging the person. If someone can't accept a person's lifestyle, he is considered to be judging the person. Criticizing a lifestyle means criticizing the person. Such wrong thinking leads to accusations of hate towards anyone who disagrees with immoral behaviour. Feelings replace facts and emotions displace reason.

Anyone defending what is "right" is accused of being intolerant. A school administrator stated, "It is the mission of public schools not to tolerate intolerances." One University of Ottawa professor states, "Our idea is that to be a virtuous citizen is to be one who tolerates everything except intolerance." According to the United Nations "Declaration of Principles of Tolerance" (16 November, 1995), however, "Tolerance … involves the rejection of dogmatism and absolutism."

McDowell and Hostetler, the authors, conclude: "Ironic, isn't it, that the proponents of the new tolerance are so dogmatic about dogmatism and absolute in their opposition to absolutism?" The authors state that this leads to "branding anyone who dares to stand for objective truth and absolute standards as an intolerant bigot who has no right to speak, a fanatic who must be silenced in order that progress might continue."

Religion Under Attack

McDowell and Hostetler state that, "In the lexicon of the new tolerance, for a religious institution to call homosexual behaviour a 'sin' is judgmental and 'discriminatory' (because it implies that all beliefs, behaviours, and lifestyles are not equal) and as such invites retaliation."

The authors note that, "Andres Serrano's crucifix suspended in a jar of urine is considered art, while similar treatment of a gay symbol would be intolerance… because the cross represents the exclusive and intolerant claims of Jesus, and such 'intolerance' must be met with intolerance."

The authors give examples of children forbidden to refer to God in their school essays; academics and scientists losing their employment for offering to help people change unhealthy behaviour; and students threatened with incarceration if they mention Jesus in a graduation prayer. High school weekends, leadership conferences and revised history lessons are singled out as propaganda methods, used to train children in a new tolerance, without parental awareness. McDowell and Hostetler demonstrate how the "new tolerance is stifling scholastic achievement, devaluing educational substance, rewriting history, ignoring facts, restricting freedoms, and denying parental rights."

Judicial Confusion

When legislators and judges will not decide in favour of protecting unborn human beings, will not protect children from pornographic exploitation, or when they can't tell the difference between marriage and sodomy, we need to remember that they are encumbered by the new tolerance which coerces them into excluding a moral component in deciding matters of legislation. Truth and morality no longer exist, only opinions. And all opinions are equal.

Response to New Tolerance

A weakness evident in the book is its response to unjust legislation and institutions such as Human Rights Commissions. Rather than insisting on changing these, the authors limit their advice to calling for a personal response of piety and conversion. Laws, however, serve as a guideline to the conscience and affect behaviour. Unjust laws and institutions cause great harm to large numbers of people and to society.

Good legislation and impartial legal institutions are essential and we must demand that change takes place to ensure that we live in a free and democratic society.

The strongest aspect of this book is that it provides a collection of concrete examples illustrating the persecution which characterizes the new tolerance.

Editor's Note:

In a BBC broadcast in 1990, a homosexual journalist, Mr. Bushel, outlined the four steps which are being taken to change public attitudes towards homosexuality. They are as follows:

(1) Create tolerance, which will bring about …
(2) acceptance: this, in turn will …
(3) silence all who speak against the practice, and thus allow …
(4) the imposition of a minor (im)morality on others.

BACK TO TABLE OF CONTENTS