Balancing the Ideal with the Practical: Religious Freedom, National Security, and The End of History

The essence of religious faith is a person’s belief that his or her views of God, of salvation and grace, of metaphysics, of an ethical life, are the right ones. Tolerance of other religious people and their views can certainly be, often is, a personal characteristic of a religious person, but the desire to bring others to that correct theology which is held so deeply can be a powerful force, and often overpowers tolerance in ways that can chill religious comity and even limit religious freedom. Religious freedom has been a growing force in much of the world for several centuries, but it is certainly not present everywhere. Moreover, religious extremism in the world today often carries with it violence and war, and reaction to it in Western democracies can inject a reluctance to apply long-held measures of freedom of religion. As a result, borders that had long been open to migration can close in the legitimate interest of security. This is a subject that needs better airing than it is presently being given. I used to say, and believe, that I preferred the company of and collaboration with people of strong faith, any faith. Recent history has caused me to be not so sure.