“He that despiseth his neighbour sinneth; but he that is gracious unto the humble, happy is he.”
——Torah, Proverbs, 14,21 ~2500 BCE?——
“Freedom and tolerance of thought, speech, religion; choice of place of residence, coming and going, jobs and professions, will be on equal terms and conditions for everyone. No persecution, injustice, or harassment is allowed to be done to anyone. In this way Cyrus says that I have sown the seed of amity, friendship, and affection among nations and have granted the people peace of mind, security, tranquility, and comfort.”
——Cyrus, king of Iran, 539 BCE—-
“The thought manifests as the word. The word manifests as the deed. The deed develops into habit. And the habit hardens into character. So watch the thought and its ways with care. And let it spring from love, born out of concern for all beings.”
“Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.”
——Buddha, ~450 BCE——
“Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi, desires that all religions should reside everywhere, for all of them desire self-control and purity of heart. But people have various desires and various passions, and they may practice all of what they should or only a part of it. But one who receives great gifts yet is lacking in self-control, purity of heart, gratitude and firm devotion, such a person is mean.”
——Asoka, a Mauryan king, ~250 BCE——
“He alone sees truly who sees the Lord the same in every creature…seeing the same Lord everywhere, he does not harm himself or others.”
——Bhagavad Gita, ~200 BCE?
“How canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye.”
——Luke 6:42 (also Matthew 7:4, almost identical)——-
“Render to Cesar the things that are Cesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s”
——Mark 12:17——
“O mankind! Lo! We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another. Lo! the noblest of you, in the sight of Allah, is the best in conduct. Lo! Allah is Knower, Aware.”
——Qur’an, 49:13——(sadly, not very tolerant, but the best I found)
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
——U.S. Constitution, Amendment I——
“No orthodox church ever had power that it did not endeavor to make people think its way by force and flame. And yet every church that ever was established commenced in the minority, and while it was in the minority advocated free speech—every one. John Calvin, the founder of the Presbyterian Church, while he lived in France, wrote a book on religious toleration in order to show that all men had an equal right to think; and yet that man afterward, clothed in a little authority, forgot all his sentiments about religious liberty, and had poor Serviettes burned at the stake, for differing with him on a question that neither of them knew anything about. In the minority, Calvin advocated toleration—in the majority, he practiced murder.”
——Robert Green Ingersoll, 1885——
” Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”
——Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 18——
“Offence of serious religious vilification
(1)A person (the offender) must not, on the ground of the religious belief or activity of another person or class of persons, intentionally engage in conduct that the offender knows is likely—
(a)to incite hatred against that other person or class of persons; and
(b)to threaten, or incite others to threaten, physical harm towards that other person or class of persons or the property of that other person or class of persons.”
——Australia’s Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001, Section 25——-
This page originally published in Facebook by Taryntoo
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