Faithful Thinkers: 🤔 25 Thoughtful Quotes On Tolerance and Diversity

Can there be true tolerance without uniformity? Challenge assumptions and ponder the necessity of diversity in these 25 tolerance quotes.

1. "Most of what passes for tolerance today is not tolerance at all but actually intellectual cowardice. Those who hide behind that word are often afraid of intelligent engagement and don't engage or even consider contrary opinions. It's easier to hurl an insult than to confront the idea and either refute it or be changed by it."
- Greg Koukl, Relativism

Quote by Greg Koukl from the book Relativism: Feet Firmly Planted In Mid-Air: "Most of what passes for tolerance today is not tolerance at all but actually intellectual cowardice. Those who hide behind that word are often afraid of intelligent engagement and don't engage or even consider contrary opinions. It's easier to hurl an insult than to confront the idea and either refute it or be changed by it."

2. "Proponents of [this] cultural tolerance will point out that when you fail to endorse a person's beliefs and behavior, you are, in effect, rejecting the person. [For example], many claim that homosexuality is not merely a sexual act or a natural orientation; it is a state of being—an identity. Many assert that people are born gay, and when you condemn homosexuality, it's an affront to their personhood and a direct condemnation and discrimination against them as human beings."
- Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell, The Beauty of Intolerance

3. "[Ironically], Some of the most vocal advocates for tolerance are completely intolerant of those who express their belief in a biblical morality, especially if they do so in the public arena."
- Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell, The Beauty of Intolerance

4. "Cultural tolerance does not simply require that we give others the freedom to believe or live differently than we do. It has evolved into a demand that we accept, respect, and affirm the rightness of others' views and behavior--or be labeled intolerant, bigoted, and even hateful."
- Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell, The Beauty of Intolerance

5. "While we all may have a sense of what is evil and what is good under the philosophy of cultural tolerance, evil and good can only be relative ideals. Without an objective truth—a set of universal moral values—good and evil are defined by the individual, community, or society. Therefore we have no moral basis by which to judge another person, community, or nation for what they do or don't do."
- Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell, The Beauty of Intolerance

Quote from Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell from the book "The Beauty of Intolerance: Setting a Generation Free to Know Truth and Love": "While we all may have a sense of what is evil and what is good under the philosophy of cultural tolerance, evil and good can only be relative ideals. Without an objective truth—a set of universal moral values—good and evil are defined by the individual, community, or society. Therefore we have no moral basis by which to judge another person, community, or nation for what they do or don't do."

6. "We are asked to be tolerant of what everyone else believes, so why aren't we tolerant of terrorists?...Unless there are objective universal moral values, like those that reside in the character of God, no one really has the right to judge even the worst atrocities of terrorists."
- Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell, The Beauty of Intolerance

7. "If man is the ultimate authority, then human beings are perfectly justified in defining morals and ethics that fit their own desires, even if those ethics are the ones espoused by Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, and the Chinese government—murder, torture, and abuse."
- Frank Turek and Norm Geisler, Legislating Morality

8. "To say we're intolerant of the person because we disagree with her idea is confused. On this view of tolerance, no idea or behavior can be opposed, regardless of how graciously, without inviting the charge of incivility."
- Greg Koukl, Relativism

Quote from Greg Koukl in the book "Relativism: Feet Firmly Planted In Mid-Air": "To say we're intolerant of the person because we disagree with her idea is confused. On this view of tolerance, no idea or behavior can be opposed, regardless of how graciously, without inviting the charge of incivility."

9. "Having been influenced to believe it's up to the individual to create his or her own truth, our young people are naturally uncomfortable with any suggestion that one particular viewpoint is true for everyone."
- Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell, The Beauty of Intolerance

10. "The height of intolerance is not disagreement, but rather removing from the public square an opportunity for people to disagree."
- Jonathan Morrow, Questioning The Bible

Quote from Jonathan Morrow from the book "Questioning The Bible: 11 Major Challenges to the Bible's Authority": "The height of intolerance is not disagreement, but rather removing from the public square an opportunity for people to disagree."

11. "Traditional tolerance values, respects, and accepts the individual without necessarily approving of or participating in that person' beliefs or behavior."
- Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell, The Beauty of Intolerance

12. "Like the physical universe, the moral universe is governed by unforgiving laws that we do not have the power to alter."
- Frank Turek and Norm Geisler, Legislating Morality

13. "When we contrast the cultural narrative of truth with the biblical narrative of truth, we can see that cultural tolerance does not actually show respect for others or even demonstrate care for them—it does the opposite."

- Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell, The Beauty of Intolerance

14. "Truth and traditional tolerance are the necessary balancing ingredients to genuinely love and accept others unconditionally."

- Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell, The Beauty of Intolerance

15. "By understanding how truth and traditional tolerance work together, we unlock the key to making our children feel loved even when we can't approve of what they choose and what they do."
- Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell, The Beauty of Intolerance

16. "To argue that some views are false, immoral, or just plain silly does not violate any meaningful standard of tolerance."
- Greg Koukl, Relativism

17. "True tolerance involves loving people and suffering while they do something we think is absolutely wrong, which is exactly what Christ does for us."
- Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell, The Beauty of Intolerance

Quote from Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell from the book "The Beauty of Intolerance: Setting A Generation Free to Know Truth and Love": "True tolerance involves loving people and suffering while they do something we think is absolutely wrong, which is exactly what Christ does for us."

18. "What distinguishes God's unconditional acceptance from that of our culture is authentic love. His love is intended to make the security, happiness, and welfare of another as important as his own. It is other-focused, not performance-focused. God knows the real truth about us—that we were created in his image—and that truth allows him to separate the person from performance. God unconditionally values us for who we are without always approving of what we do, because he separates the value of the person from the acts of the person."
- Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell, The Beauty of Intolerance

19. "Real love isn't an unlimited endorsement of just any behavior a person chooses to engage in. Many of those behaviors are inherently and inevitably harmful, and to endorse, approve, and encourage them is not loving; it is cold and uncaring. If we care about another person, we won't approve behavior that is damaging and destructive to that person's life."
- Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell, The Beauty of Intolerance

20. "Truth is our best friend, and it is an inseparable part of what real love is. While cultural tolerance may disguise itself as caring, understanding, and loving, it lacks the moral authority of an authentic love that looks out for the best interest of others. That is another quality of authentic, real love—it is always other-focused."
- Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell, The Beauty of Intolerance

21. "Our young people need to understand that the reason we have this concept that some things are morally right and others are wrong is not because a church propagates it or even that it is written in a book called the Bible. The moral authority of the Bible isn't found in its commands and rules. The authority of scripture is derived directly from and founded in the very character and nature of God and represented in the flesh through Jesus Christ. All moral truth resides in and comes from God."
- Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell, The Beauty of Intolerance

Quote from Sean McDowell and Josh McDowell in the book "The Beauty of Intolerance- Setting A Generation Free to Know Truth and Love": "Our young people need to understand that the reason we have this concept that some things are morally right and others are wrong is not because a church propagates it or even that it is written in a book called the Bible. The moral authority of the Bible isn't found in its commands and rules. The authority of scripture is derived directly from and founded in the very character and nature of God and represented in the flesh through Jesus Christ. All moral truth resides in and comes from God."

22. "It is important to note that even though the Founders believed the Rights of the people came from God, they did not insist that every citizen believe in God; they simply saw no way to justify those natural moral Rights unless there was a God."
- Frank Turek and Norman Geisler, Legislating Morality

23. "All moral positions impose values. Even the moral position that you should not impose values on others does just that: it imposes values on others. For if we are not to restrain people legally from doing wrong, then we impose on others the effects of the wrongdoing."
- Frank Turek and Norman Geisler, Legislating Morality

Quote from Norman Geisler and Frank Turek in the book "Legislating Morality: Is It Wise, Is It Legal, Is It Possible": "All moral positions impose values. Even the moral position that you should not impose values on others does just that: it imposes values on others. For if we are not to restrain people legally from doing wrong, then we impose on others the effects of the wrongdoing."

24. "We're living in a society in which people feel no obligation to control their own actions. Instead, we rationalize and justify every aberrant behavior under the umbrella of freedom granted by the First Amendment, never admitting that freedom without reasonable and responsible limits destroys individual lives and ultimately destroys the fabric of a civilized society."
- Frank Turek and Norman Geisler, Legislating Morality

25. "If you find yourself being defensive when we criticize ideas, maybe you've bought into the cultural view of tolerance more than you realize...The highest degree of respect you can show somebody is to take their ideas seriously and graciously critique them."
- Sean McDowell, The Beauty of Intolerance

Follow Faithful Thinkers On Social Media