Religious toleration

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Religious toleration is the condition of accepting or permitting others' religious beliefs and practices which disagree with one's own.

In a country with a state religion, toleration means that the government permits religious practices of other sects besides the state religion, and does not persecute believers in other faiths. Historically, toleration has been a contentious issue within many religions as well as between one religion and another. At issue is not merely whether other faiths should be permitted, but also whether a ruler who is a believer may practice or permit tolerance. In the Middle Ages, toleration of Judaism was a contentious issue throughout Christendom. Today, there are concerns about toleration of Christianity in Islamic states (see also dhimmi).

For individuals, religious toleration generally means an attitude of acceptance towards other people's religions. It does not mean that one views other religions as equally true; merely that others have the right to hold and practice their beliefs. Proselytism can be a contentious issue; it can be regarded as an offense against the validity of others' religions, or as an expression of one's own faith.

1 Timeline
2 See also
3 Literature
4 External links

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Timeline

303, February 24 - Galerius, Roman Emperor, decreed the persecution of Christians in his portion of the Empire.
1552 - first English Act of Uniformity
1571, January 11 - religious toleration was granted to Austrian nobles;
1573, January 28 - Warsaw Confederation granting religious toleration;
1598, April 13 - King Henry IV of France issued the Edict of Nantes, allowing religious toleration of the Huguenots;
1609, July 6 - Bohemia was granted religious toleration;
1657, April 20 - New Amsterdam granted religious toleration to Jews;
1685, October - the Edict of Fontainebleau was issued, revoking the Edict of Nantes and making Protestantism illegal in France.
1689, Act of Toleration - England
1829, April 13 - British Parliament granted Catholic Emancipation in the spirit of religious toleration;
1864 - Pope Pius IX condemned as an error the belief that "[e]very man is free to embrace and profess that religion which, guided by the light of reason, he shall consider true." (Pope Pius IX. (1864). Allocution "Maxima quidem," June 9, 1862; Damnatio "Multiplices inter," June 10, 1851. In the Syllabus of Errors, http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/P9SYLL.HTM)
1988, April 29 - in the spirit of Glasnost, Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev promised increased religious toleration.