Def|n|t|ons

ke||g|ous Ireedom
1he freedom of lndlvlduals Lo belleve ln pracLlce and
promoLe Lhe rellglon of cholce wlLhouL (governmenL)
lnLerference harrassmenL or oLher repercusslons os
looq os pracLlces based on or resulLlng from Lhose
bellefs do noL break Lhe law (eg do noL encourage or
resulL ln fraud Lax evaslon murder Lerrorlsm acLs
deslgned Lo undermlne Lhe governmenL or Lhe
consLlLuLlon Lhe use of uneLhlcal persuaslon LacLlcs
eLc)
ke||g|ous Into|erance
efuslng Lo acknowledge and supporL Lhe rlghL
of lndlvlduals Lo have Lhelr own bellefs and
relaLed leqltlmote pracLlces
ke||g|ous 1o|erance
cknowledglng and supporLlng LhaL lndlvlduals
have Lhe rlghL and freedom Lo Lhelr own bellefs
and relaLed leqltlmote pracLlces wlLhouL
necessarlly valldaLlng Lhose bellefs or pracLlces
In a country w|th a state re||g|on
toletotloo governmenL permlLs rellglous pracLlces of
oLher secLs besldes Lhe sLaLe rellglon and does noL
persecuLe bellevers ln oLher falLhs lL ls a parLlal sLaLus
and mlghL sLlll be accompanled by forms of rellglous
dlscrlmlnaLlon
ellglous LoleraLlon(governmenL pollcy) absence
of rellglous persecuLlon unllke rellglous llberLy lL does
noL mean LhaL rellglons are equal before Lhe law
1oleraLlon ls a prlvllege granLed by CovernmenL (whlch
lL may do by law or charLer)
cukkN1 l55u lN
MAlA5lA (lloo Ioy
nloJtof)
1he llrsL mendmenL Lo Lhe unlLed SLaLes
ConsLlLuLlon
1he llrsL mendmenL Lo Lhe unlLed SLaLes
ConsLlLuLlon raLlfled along wlLh Lhe resL of
Lhe 8lll of lghLs on uecember 13 1791
lncluded Lhe followlng words
Congress shall make no law respecLlng an
esLabllshmenL of rellglon or prohlblLlng
Lhe free exerclse Lhereof
1he flrsL
1oleraLlon and naLlonhood
ln hls 1882 essay WhaL ls a naLlon? lrench
hlsLorlan and phllosopher LrnsL enan proposed
a deflnlLlon of naLlonhood based on a splrlLual
prlnclple lnvolvlng shared memorles raLher
Lhan a common rellglous raclal or llngulsLlc
herlLage 1hus members of any rellglous group
could parLlclpaLe fully ln Lhe llfe of Lhe naLlon
?ou can be lrench Lngllsh Cerman yeL
CaLhollc roLesLanL !ewlsh or pracLlclng no
rellglon
ln lslam
CerLaln verses of Lhe Curan were lnLerpreLed Lo creaLe
a speclally LoleraLed sLaLus for eople of Lhe 8ook
!ewlsh and ChrlsLlan bellevers ln Lhe Cld and new
1esLamenLs consldered Lo have been a basls for lslamlc
rellglon
Ietlly! 1bose wbo belleve ooJ tbose wbo ote Iews ooJ
cbtlstloos ooJ 5obloos wboevet belleves lo CoJ ooJ
tbe lost uoy ooJ Jo tlqbteoos qooJ JeeJs sboll bove
tbelt tewotJ wltb tbelt lotJ oo tbem sboll be oo feot
oot sboll tbey qtleve
under lslamlc law !ews and ChrlsLlans were
consldered dhlmmls a legal sLaLus lnferlor Lo LhaL of a
Musllm buL superlor Lo LhaL of oLher nonMusllms
ln Plndu rellglon
1he lgveda says kom 5otb Ilptob 8oboJbo
IoJootl whlch LranslaLes Lo 1he LruLh ls Cne
buL sages call lL by dlfferenL names ConslsLenL
wlLh Lhls LradlLlon lndla chose Lo be a secular
counLry even Lhough lL was creaLed
afLer parLlLlonlng on rellglous llnes 1he
Supreme CourL of lndla has ruled LhaL Sharla or
Musllm law holds precedence for Musllms over
lndlan clvll law
ln summary we feel LhaL
uenlgraLlng oLher lndlvlduals or oLher
groups rellglous e||efs ls noL
accepLable
Acts wh|ch hurt others are
unaccepLable even when Lhey are
rellglously moLlvaLed
Advocat|ng that others perform
harmfu| acts ls unaccepLable even
when rellglously moLlvaLed
We belleve LhaL frlcLlon and haLred
beLween rellglons can be reduced
Lhrough undersLandlng 8uL
undersLandlng can only be reached lf
people learn abouL Lhe LeneLs of oLher
rellglons 1hey need Lo know how Lhe
bellefs of oLher falLh groups dlffer from
each oLher and from Lhelr own falLh
group
1he mean|ng of the term re||g|ous to|erance does |nvo|ve
Accept|ng that fo||owers of var|ous re||g|ons cons|der the|r own
e||efs to e true MosL people belleve LhaL Lhelr rellglous
bellefs are Lrue perhaps even Lrue on an absoluLe basls
A||ow|ng others to ho|d re||g|ous e||efs that are d|fferent from
yours no socleLy ls Lruly free unless Lhere ls freedom of rellglous
assoclaLlon speech and bellef for everyone
A||ow|ng others to free|y change the|r re||g|on or
denom|nat|on or e||efs lreedom of rellglon lncludes Lhe rlghL
Lo change ones falLh
A||ow|ng others to pract|ce the|r re||g|ous fa|th w|th|n reasona|e ||m|ts
ellglon ls more Lhan bellef lL lnvolves pracLlces as well
kefus|ng to d|scr|m|nate |n emp|oyment accommodat|on etc on re||g|ous
grounds eople who follow mlnorlLy rellglons have Lhe rlghL Lo be LreaLed
falrly ln Lhe workplace and socleLy generally
Mak|ng a reasona|e effort to accommodate other peop|es re||g|ous
needs lor example
llowlng an employee Lo work overLlme ln order Lo Lake off a rellglous fesLlval
or holy day LhaL ls slgnlflcanL Lo Lhem
Schedullng meeLlngs so LhaL Lhey do noL confllcL wlLh common holy days