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TOLERANT 5'?m2f Truth and tolerance: not all beliefs are true

LIZ -- (enters carrying Bible, paper, pen, crosses to podium)
That's it! I'm tired of being kicked around! (pages through
Bible, writes, pages, writes)

AMY -- (enters) What's with the paperwork? You've got all
weekend to do that.

LIZ -- This isn't paperwork. I'm writing a letter.

AMY -- A letter? To whom?

LIZ -- To the International Bible Society. I'm telling them that
they should edit the Bible in the name of tolerance.

AMY -- Edit the Bible?

LIZ -- Yes. Every time I turn around my non-Christian friends
and coworkers are criticizing me for being intolerant just
because I'm a Christian. So, I'm having the International Bible
Society remove the last vestiges of intolerance from the Bible.

AMY -- Vestiges? What vestiges?

LIZ -- Well, look here. Here's a couple of verses that my
coworkers object to: John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and
the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except
through me."

AMY -- What's intolerant about that?

LIZ -- Well look at this. Jesus says, "I am THE way and THE
truth and THE life." Like there's no other way, no other truth,
no other life. And then he says that there's no other way to get
to the Father in heaven, except through Jesus. That sounds
pretty intolerant.

AMY -- Listen, I'm afraid you got...

LIZ -- And look here, Acts 4:12 "Salvation is found in no one
else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by
which we must be saved." No wonder people think we're
intolerant. I think we should strike these passages from the
Bible.

AMY -- (taking bible, drops it in a waste basket) Good idea.

LIZ -- What did you do that for? (reaches in, pulls out Bible)
You can't just throw the Bible in the waste basket.

AMY -- Well, if those verses are false, you can't trust a thing
the Bible says.

LIZ -- Well, I didn't say they were false.

AMY -- Is Jesus the way to Heaven or not?

LIZ -- Well, of course he is. That's why he died.

AMY -- But you want to remove the truth from the Bible?

LIZ -- Well, it seems intolerant, doesn't it?

AMY -- It may be exclusive. But it's not intolerant.

LIZ -- What do you mean?

AMY -- I mean all beliefs, even atheism, are exclusive. That
doesn't necessarily mean they're intolerant.

LIZ -- I still don't follow.

AMY -- Christianity is not the only belief system that's
exclusive. If atheism is true, then there is no god and all
religions that believe in a god are false. And if Islam is true,
then Jesus is just a prophet and not God as we believe, then
Christianity is false.

LIZ -- Oh, I see. What about Hinduism? Hindus believe all
religions lead to Hinduism.

AMY -- I think Hinduism and Eastern Mysticism are partially
responsible for this whole misunderstanding about tolerance.

LIZ -- What do you mean?

AMY -- Hinduism says that there is no reality. Life is all an
illusion.

LIZ -- Well, I suppose life could be an illusion.

AMY -- Yes, but how can the Hindus know for sure that nothing is
real?

LIZ -- How can they know?

AMY -- Yes. Did one real person show up and tell all these
non-existent people that nothing is real? Or maybe it was an
unreal person who said it? And if he said it, maybe what he said
was an illusion too.

LIZ -- Oh, it's kind of self-refuting, isn't it?

AMY -- Yes, but people really go for religions like Hinduism and
Eastern Mysticism because there's no commitment required to
join. You just have to give up all your beliefs. The results are
identical to atheism. There's no right, no wrong; nothing is
true and nothing is false.

LIZ -- What does that have to do with intolerance?

AMY -- The people in control of our media: the writers, the
journalists, the intellectual elite, the educational elite, the
legal elite, have embraced Eastern Mysticism or atheism. They
have changed the meaning of tolerance for the rest of us.

LIZ -- Changed it? To what?

AMY -- Tolerance used to mean, "I disagree with you, but I will
live peaceably with you." But, today tolerance, even among some
Christians, has come to mean, "I can't disagree with you."

LIZ -- Hey, I guess you're right.

AMY -- Their problem is, when they changed the definition, they
hung themselves.

LIZ -- What do you mean?

AMY -- By calling you intolerant, they are saying you're wrong
for saying that they're wrong.

LIZ -- You mean they're doing exactly the same thing that
they're accusing me of?

AMY -- Yes.

LIZ -- (crumples paper) Why, those hypocrites! (stomping toward
exit) I think I'll give those jerks a piece of my mind!

AMY -- Wait.

LIZ -- (turns) What?

AMY -- Remember, tolerance means, "I disagree with you, but..."

LIZ -- "...but I will live peaceably with you." Oh, that's
right. (exiting with Amy) I have to be tolerant when I'm
tolerant, don't I?

AMY -- (exiting with Liz) Good idea.

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