Tolerance January 17, 2020 A Simple, Easy Policy on Politics and Religion I have a friend on social media who is a practicing Baptist minister. He’s an old friend from high school. He has the usual... READ MORE
Tolerance December 22, 2019 A Jewish Scientologist’s Christmas I was raised mildly Jewish. I wasn’t ever bat mitzvahed and, by the time I was 18, I’d actually never been to a synagogue... READ MORE
Tolerance December 21, 2019 What Is Your Problem?! or Drama in the Produce Section “WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?!” The question was bellowed at me in condemnation of my failure to swerve my motion-challenged... READ MORE
Tolerance December 18, 2019 Not in Our Stars—A Holiday Entreaty As days pass by and disappear we fast approach another year. The last 12 months we pause to weigh and estimate the progress... READ MORE
Tolerance December 6, 2019 Hate Never Wins: A Tale of Two Blog Posts I posted this photo on my photography blog. I didn’t think it would be very controversial. Boy, was I wrong. READ MORE
Tolerance November 19, 2019 The Chosen Path—A Fable About Brotherhood He is an expert on this hellish road you travel, and would teach us its history, and the history of those who’ve gone before. READ MORE
Tolerance August 14, 2019 Why Religions Shouldn’t Take the Bait No government, no institution, no club will ever be able to give purpose to man like his religions do. READ MORE
Tolerance August 12, 2019 The Tribes of Bad and Good A few years ago, a seven-year-old boy waving a Pop Tart and saying “bang bang” was suspended from school in Maryland.... READ MORE
Tolerance August 1, 2019 Speaking of Religion Religion is tough to talk about. It’s true. And instead of welcoming the chance to learn something new, we tend to shy away... READ MORE
Tolerance July 8, 2019 What Faith In Our Schools Really Means I have good friends who are Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Buddhist, and many more who are still searching and haven’t quite... READ MORE
Tolerance July 5, 2019 Religious Freedom and Religious Tolerance While training as an Army officer, I was taught not to discuss politics and religion. This seemed eminently practical advice... READ MORE
Tolerance July 5, 2019 Let’s Keep Religion Out of Political Attacks Attacks on religion begin with bashing minority groups—and spread from there. It is our duty and obligation to protect and... READ MORE
Tolerance June 25, 2019 All Hail Aladdin But all in all, I give this Aladdin high marks for trying to do the right thing, and for being highly entertaining to boot. READ MORE
Tolerance June 18, 2019 Freedom Without Bars “Buy me a drink?” That is what the policeman said to my relative after stopping him for speeding on a highway in a Caribbean... READ MORE
Tolerance June 11, 2019 Prayer for Peace A Prayer for Peace - Remembering those who fell at worship READ MORE
Tolerance May 18, 2019 Identity Politics: Divided We Fall A shining example just occurred in New Zealand. A week after the insane murder of fifty Muslims and the injury of dozens more… READ MORE
Tolerance May 9, 2019 How a Jew and Roman Catholic Make Their Marriage Work I was raised Roman Catholic and my husband was raised Jewish. I had my First Communion at the age of 6 and my husband had... READ MORE
Tolerance May 6, 2019 The Danger of Hate Speech on Social Media How to express oneself is a personal choice. But just know that hate speech is not rational; its effect is cumulative and... READ MORE
Tolerance April 10, 2019 One Night on Council Beach Hysterical cheers swept through the flock like gusts of wind across a wheat field. Krak stood silent, smiling, soaking in... READ MORE
Tolerance April 2, 2019 Why People Are So Passionate About Religion Online I believe that the more confident you are in your beliefs and viewpoints, the more generous you can be with beliefs and viewpoints... READ MORE
Tolerance March 11, 2019 Religious Freedom: The Elephant in the Room If we keep enforcing the “my religion is better than yours” game—if we keep squashing the religious freedom of another... READ MORE
Tolerance March 8, 2019 Teamwork & Friendship Tear Down Intolerance Our friendships grew and our business thrived because we worked together as one team. We also worshipped together. READ MORE
Tolerance March 8, 2019 Five Easy Ways to Tell If Your Post Is Bigoted Religious intolerance can be sneaky. You may not even realize you’re being a bigot. Probably because someone said some line... READ MORE
Tolerance February 28, 2019 Where Does Freedom of Speech End? What the individuals and organizations promulgating falsehoods do not understand that we fully understand, is that with freedom... READ MORE
Tolerance February 28, 2019 Bigotry Is Only a Symptom of the Actual Disease This is the germ that starts the infection—this is the first disruption of normal social interaction between two groups. READ MORE
Tolerance February 28, 2019 A Fairy Tale for Grownups Once upon a time, when stars and sunsets were still in fashion and the world had not yet lost its glow of fresh wonder, there... READ MORE
Tolerance February 10, 2019 A Glimpse of Peace in the Middle East I spent three days living as though in the future—where we can live our own faith, and respectfully allow others the same... READ MORE
Tolerance January 22, 2019 Religious Tolerance: How You Can Earn Peace A society worth living in is one in which religious tolerance is alive and well. Let us then make conscious efforts to be... READ MORE
Tolerance January 22, 2019 Shape-Shifting Lizards From Outer Space! Astounding but true! According to multiple studies, upwards of 12 million Americans, or 4 percent of the population, believe... READ MORE
Tolerance January 18, 2019 What’s the Magic Word? There’s a beautiful word that represents a concept, a viewpoint, a way of looking at things. I’ve been growing grey waiting... READ MORE
Tolerance January 7, 2019 How the Right to Education Can Answer Our Troubles Why do we still see war, poverty, religious intolerance, persecution, political upheaval, civil conflict, human trafficking,... READ MORE
Tolerance January 1, 2019 Miscast as a Cult Member One would think, in this new epoch of hyper-sensitivity, that casual slurs about a stranger’s religion would be “so last... READ MORE
Tolerance December 27, 2018 Galileo’s Middle Finger In the Galileo museum in Florence, Italy, carefully and lovingly preserved by his admirers in an ornate and gilded glass bubble,... READ MORE
Tolerance December 22, 2018 Our Florida Winter Wonderland For me, this is the spirit of Christmas. It was how I was raised. Giving help to those less fortunate. Brightening the days... READ MORE
Tolerance December 21, 2018 Christmas and Our Common Humanity The Winter Solstice itself is something that nearly all humanity and all life on this planet has in common. The point of renewal.... READ MORE
Tolerance December 20, 2018 The Meaning of Christmas In my world, Christmas is a time for communication, for acceptance, for understanding, for reconciliation; a time for saying... READ MORE
Tolerance December 7, 2018 Human Rights: There Is No “Them,” Only “Us” Enough people got so tired of living in a country that treated them like prisoners, and the system became so unworkable, that... READ MORE
Tolerance November 28, 2018 And That is Respect We would have dinner and spend the rest of the night talking till the wee hours about religion—he from his perspective and... READ MORE
Tolerance November 27, 2018 The “Church” of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and its Debt to the Quakers Imagine yourself at your local DMV office renewing your driver’s license. You’ve spent several hours filling out forms,... READ MORE
Tolerance November 21, 2018 Thanksgiving—And Why I’m Grateful for the Chance to Help When we care for and nurture others, when we know that life is about what we DO not what we own, and when we can care more... READ MORE
Tolerance November 18, 2018 The Space Between Us So you were right all along. All that “no man is an island” stuff is true, after all. You bother me or yell at me or snub... READ MORE
Tolerance October 29, 2018 Men of Goodwill The world can be very cruel. Certainly if you sit back and let mass media and pop culture swamp you, it can seem that way.... READ MORE
Tolerance October 29, 2018 How Hateful Lies Can Destroy Others’ Lives We must all be vigilant for the fabricated, evil and false accusations that can hurt both individuals and communities. READ MORE
Tolerance October 25, 2018 Carpool of DEATH!! In truth, you have FAR more reason to be terrified of death by carpool. The odds are way higher that you’ll be a carpool... READ MORE
Tolerance September 29, 2018 Desensitizing Hate: A Scientologist’s Perspective But rather than focusing on what we don’t like about others, we should look for ways to accept—even admire—our differences. READ MORE
Tolerance September 21, 2018 How Young Is Too Young to Learn About Bigotry? I was moved by a recent articulate, thoughtful article about how to prepare your children for the evil that exists in the... READ MORE
Tolerance September 20, 2018 Race, Religion & Bridges to Understanding A group of almost 600 people, mostly African-Americans, gather on a road leading east out of a small southern town. They begin... READ MORE
Tolerance September 20, 2018 Why Tolerance Is Not Enough. #respectfaith When I was a child in France, the word “culte” just meant “worship.” Still does. In fact, when intolerant types there... READ MORE
Tolerance September 13, 2018 The Definition of Hate Just as the only thing we need to fear is Fear itself, so the only thing truly worth hating is Hate. And since Hate equals... READ MORE
Tolerance September 12, 2018 Finding Solace in the Tajikistan Bicycle Attack While this world has a history of vicious intolerance—one it sometimes appears may continue forever—I see signs that there... READ MORE
Tolerance September 12, 2018 Religious Tolerance and Growing up in Brooklyn The question becomes: how can we maintain and express our deep-seated religious beliefs and practices without becoming intolerant... READ MORE
Tolerance September 10, 2018 Our Outraged Society We are supposed to be living in an enlightened age, but instead we seem to be devolving into a society of bullies who, ironically,... READ MORE
Tolerance September 3, 2018 What Do You Mean by “God?” Man’s entire history has, to a large degree, centered on the question of God. Wars have been fought, families torn apart,... READ MORE
Tolerance August 26, 2018 What a Catholic Taught Me About Civil Discourse Sometimes YOU (not the other guy) are the one who has to change. I’ve learned that many times in my life. READ MORE
Tolerance August 7, 2018 Religion: The Price of Being “Different” What are these people so afraid of? That Jehovah’s Witnesses are personally attacking them by handing them copies of The... READ MORE
Tolerance July 25, 2018 How to See People for Who They Really Are This lawyer wanted my friend to make a generalization about two groups of people rather than allow her to judge the case by... READ MORE
Tolerance July 17, 2018 God Has a Name and It Is “Peace” One cannot, in fact, be a devout Christian, Muslim, Jew, Hindu or Buddhist and still wish to do harm to those who believe... READ MORE
Tolerance July 1, 2018 Discrimination Is Not Native I gained some of the most valuable lessons of my life. I learned that people are decent. They are friendly. They care about... READ MORE
Tolerance June 18, 2018 Masterpiece Cakeshop and The Need For Tolerance and Respect I believe that the Masterpiece opinion will make such bodies more aware of the need to produce decisions, however they rule,... READ MORE
Tolerance May 16, 2018 In Memory of Chris Cornell, July 20, 1964—May 18, 2017 When my brother and I were kids, we were driving in the car with my dad one day and “Me and Bobby McGee” by Janis Joplin... READ MORE
Tolerance March 28, 2018 Being Different: A Sensational Analogy Its controversial and high-profile members are in the news almost daily, their alleged transgressions the subject of public... READ MORE
Tolerance March 20, 2018 Religious Persecution Is As Old As… I have discovered through the school of hard knocks that the louder the false accuser the bigger their crime. READ MORE
Tolerance March 20, 2018 Why a Scientologist Wished She’d Gone to South Africa Sooner Like these words from the late Nelson Mandela: “We can change the world and make it a better place. It is in your hands... READ MORE
Tolerance March 15, 2018 Peace On Earth By the Weekend! (Tuesday at the Latest) An African-American man put this to the test recently when he joined a white supremacist group. After the initial cold shoulder... READ MORE
Tolerance March 11, 2018 The Food Bigot I am a food bigot. This was brought to my attention by my wife some years ago when she first served me eggplant. “I hate... READ MORE
Tolerance February 28, 2018 BEEEEP!!!!! "Prejudice" is actually a hyphenate: "Pre-Judge." Or, to put a further spin on it, “premature judging.” It’s not a new... READ MORE
Tolerance February 28, 2018 Scientologists and Responsibility The concept of responsibility is at the core of personal freedom. For centuries and across cultures it has been believed that... READ MORE
Tolerance February 7, 2018 Nike Starts Catering For Muslims Nike’s decision to launch a lightweight hijab for athletes, accompanied by the tagline “Sports is for everyone,” may... READ MORE
Tolerance January 30, 2018 From Hate to Tolerance Recently, I saw the movie “Darkest Hour”, a film about Winston Churchill’s rise to become Prime Minister of the United... READ MORE
Tolerance January 27, 2018 My Father’s Journey from Darkness to Love My father was raised as an Orthodox Jew in the early part of the last century, in the same Southwest Washington, D.C., neighborhood... READ MORE
Tolerance January 10, 2018 People Who “Discriminate” Can’t Discriminate Real, careful discrimination takes accurate observation, knowledge of the subject at hand, and fine judgment. That takes some... READ MORE
Tolerance January 10, 2018 What is “Reality” Anyway? I took a university philosophy class one time and the part about the nature of reality almost killed me. Aristotle wrote 12... READ MORE
Tolerance December 27, 2017 How to Get Others to Change Their Minds How many times have you tried to change someone’s mind about something by indicating where they were wrong? Did that work... READ MORE
Tolerance December 26, 2017 Can Plastic Reindeer Ensure Separation of Church and State? In my last post, I made the point that the Founders’ purpose in providing for free exercise of religion and prohibiting... READ MORE
Tolerance December 25, 2017 Why I Love Christmas I enjoy the lights, the decorations, the carolers, the smell of Christmas trees everywhere and most of all I love that people,... READ MORE
Tolerance December 19, 2017 Do Scientologists Believe in Aliens? For the record, I’ve been a Scientologist for over thirty years, and so far no one in the church has ever inquired about... READ MORE
Tolerance December 17, 2017 Taking a STAND Against Discrimination: Nelson Mandela His English name was Nelson Mandela, but at birth his mother had named him Rolihlahla, which meant “troublemaker” in his... READ MORE
Tolerance December 13, 2017 What Human Rights Day Means to Me I’m about to board a flight back to the U.S. after spending two weeks delivering human rights lectures and musical performances... READ MORE
Tolerance December 11, 2017 A Brief Analysis of the Free Speech vs. Hate Speech Debate In one of his many letters stressing the importance of education, Thomas Jefferson wrote that, “as long as we may think... READ MORE
Tolerance December 10, 2017 On Respecting Religion, Church and State We’re living at a time when it seems that to believe in something means you have to do whatever you can to force everyone... READ MORE
Tolerance December 5, 2017 Is Technology the Greatest Hope for Humanity? In 1997, a computer defeated Garry Kasparov, the greatest chess champion that ever lived. Deep Blue was a $10-million-dollar... READ MORE
Tolerance December 3, 2017 Increased Tolerance: The Apple Pie Method One day when I was a kid, my mom brought an apple pie home from the bakery. This was a rare occurrence in our sugar-rationed... READ MORE
Tolerance November 29, 2017 Too Much Evil in the World? Look Again. As I continued on the last leg of my trip, I mulled over my encounters with these two men from very different demographics—two... READ MORE
Tolerance November 28, 2017 What Does it Take to Maintain Freedom of Religion Against Hatred and Intolerance? I was 28 when I met Gunnar and Lois and their son Anders. When they asked me what I thought about Nixon and Watergate, I had... READ MORE
Tolerance November 28, 2017 Why It’s Cool to Be “Uncool” I was never one of the “cool” crowd. I had lots of friends from every one of the defined social groups in high school,... READ MORE
Tolerance November 20, 2017 Ending Nuclear War—A Small Group With a Big Idea Last month, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, a Geneva-based coalition... READ MORE
Tolerance November 17, 2017 What My Trip to Idaho for the Eclipse Taught Me About Prejudice We were either going to see a magnificent astronomical event or—more likely—we were going to end up as bloody roadkill... READ MORE
Tolerance November 4, 2017 “LGBTQ vs. Religious Freedom”—No One Has a Monopoly on Right and Wrong How do we reconcile the fact that religious freedom for one person could violate the basic human rights of another? If someone... READ MORE
Tolerance November 3, 2017 “Innocents Abroad” and What Mark Twain Can Teach Us About Faith Faith is spiritual, not physical. Faith exists in the minds, hearts and souls of those who embrace it. So physical proof of... READ MORE
Tolerance October 20, 2017 Malaysia: A Step Toward Tolerance In Malaysia this week the heads of its different states (collectively called “the Rulers”) issued a joint statement calling... READ MORE
Tolerance October 19, 2017 The Things I Care About I don’t really care what you think of my husband. Although he has passed on, I loved him. We got along great and laughed... READ MORE
Tolerance October 11, 2017 Passion Without Compassion is Oppression If you make an enemy of those whose ideas are not the same as yours, they will do everything they can to stop you. I can guarantee... READ MORE
Tolerance October 9, 2017 Why I’m a Scientologist Every so often, I experience something odd. Someone will come along and insist that I defend my beliefs. They usually have... READ MORE
Tolerance October 8, 2017 “We Stand Together” Manchester The message was not one of anger or hatred, nor did it call for vengeance or retribution. The message did not exclude or label... READ MORE
Tolerance October 5, 2017 The Rohingya and Ethnic Cleansing—What Do They Say About Us? The sad truth is that racial, religious and ethnic hatreds are alive and well in the 21st century and many new crimes are... READ MORE
Tolerance October 1, 2017 Hate Speech: Why More Communication—Not Less—Is the Answer I agree that hate speech has no place in civil discourse, but when people are afraid to communicate at all about entire subjects... READ MORE
Tolerance September 30, 2017 Why “Sticks and Stones” Should Be the New College Creed “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it” has fallen on hard times in American... READ MORE
Tolerance September 28, 2017 How One Spiritual Outlook Could Solve the Planet’s Worst Problems Even if it’s not true—and I believe it is—wouldn’t it make a better world? READ MORE
Tolerance September 25, 2017 Bigotry—I Just Won’t Do That Anymore That’s the importance of religion, to me. And I know it’s true because I experienced it at that interfaith meeting. And... READ MORE
Tolerance September 22, 2017 Why Religious Freedom and Equality Aren’t Mutually Exclusive The Justice Department has waded into a Supreme Court case involving a Colorado baker who refused to create a wedding cake... READ MORE
