The Age of Intolerance

by Martin Slack

‘May you live in interesting times’: so goes the Chinese Curse. Curse or not, we sure live in interesting times.

Over the last few weeks my attention has been caught by the number of cases in the UK (still relatively few, thankfully, but to my mind still concerning) where an employee has either been disciplined or had their employment terminated because of issues to do with their Christian faith.

Now, it is impossible for us at a distance to weigh the facts of these cases, but, nevertheless, there does appear to be something of a trend.

And that is bizarre, because at a time when so much political effort and energy is being turned to issues of tolerance, why do some Christians find themselves on the receiving end of perceived intolerance?

What is it about the Christian faith that makes it, apparently, the growing target for those who argue the loudest for the tolerance agenda? What prompts the ‘tolerant’ to be ‘intolerant’ of Christianity, or at least of some Christians?

I suspect there are (at least) two reasons. The first is the claims of Christianity to uniqueness. The Bible is unambiguous that there is only one God and only one way to God: Jesus Christ. Such claims are difficult to swallow, to be sure. The second is the willingness of Christians to express such views.

So we find ourselves in the interesting situation of the ‘tolerant’ being intolerant of a claim to unique truth. Which raises the interesting question of how tolerance relates to a claim of absolute truth. Should such a claim be tolerated?

That depends on whether it is true or not. If it is, it would be unwise to be intolerant of it.