Religious Tolerance Increases Global Interactions

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In the 1400, Europe was dominantly Christian, but also served as a home to many Muslims and Jews that inhabited the surrounding areas. Europe; however, was the site of the first major religious conflict. For more than 300 years countless religious crusades were waged by European Christians and Muslims. This conflict was termed at the “holy war.” Inevitably this war converted into conquest as each conflicting religion tried to prove superior.

America was discovered in the year 1492 by Christopher Columbus. After the founding of the “New World”- as it was termed centuries ago- this land served as a refuge, for countless immigrants, for religious freedom. A melting pot of these religions and the tolerance they were accompanied by in the establishment of America has transgressed over the year to where they stand today. However, in the early years of American History there wasn’t one, or even a few, definite religions. In Mississippi Culture, religion was primarily devoted to the worship of the sun, as it was deemed the creator of life and fertility (Grayling, 2007). Native American religion was founded on the conviction that nature was life, pulsating with “aura,” spiritual power. In the African continent, religion created culture. These “pre-civilized” religions had their similarities to many of the current religions i.e. belief in an afterlife, revelations as a source of acquired spiritual truth. Ironically these “pre-civilized” religions weren’t tolerated by the same immigrants who sought to escape religious persecutions from their homeland.

As proven, there was an abundance of religions that existed in history that weren’t extremely tolerant of each other. Religion tended to differ drastically and disagree on many levels. Up u...

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...rance does have some negative consequences such as cultural unrest, the benefits of religious tolerance i.e. Social acceptance and global unity, account for these consequences and in turn promote increased tolerance.

Work Cited

1. Grayling, A. (2007). Towards the Light: The Story of the Struggles for Liberty and the Rights that Made the Modern West. London: Bloomsbury.

2. Halbert, M. (1996). ‗Autonomy, Toleration and Group Rights: A Response to Will Kymlicka‘, in Toleration: an Elusive Virtue, D. Heyd (ed.), Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp. 106-114.

3. Gibson, J. L. (1992). ‗The political consequences of intolerance: Cultural conformity and political freedom.‘ American Political Science Review 86(2):338–56.

4. Skeels, Christina. “Tolerance or Lack Thereof”? Digication E-Portfolio. Digication Inc., Mar. 2013. Web. 02 May 2014. ( Internet Resource)

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