Free Speech Fundamentals: Locke's Letter on Toleration
Strap in. I am about to tell you something that may make you uncomfortable. "Toleration" as a political virtue is not about being nice. It is a not a shorthand for the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" (Matthew 7:12). It is not about not judging others lest you be judged, or about giving good things to others when they ask you for help. It is not about multiculturalism or "diversity" or being open to other's perspectives. Above all, it is not about refusing to defend your own religious and political traditions against those who would seek to replace them with theirs. What it is is a uniquely Christian virtue predicated on specific pronouncements of the Lord Jesus Christ. 1. " My kingdom is not of the world " (John 18:36), meaning that there is no State of which Christ claims to be ruler. 2. " Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God&