Information Related to "The New Intolerance"
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The various Star Trek television shows and movies have reflected and influenced culture in the United States for more than 30 years. The programs feature space travelers who "explore strange new worlds and seek out new life and new civilizations." These intrepid explorers live by the "prime directive," which absolutely forbids interfering with another culture.
It seems that, at the beginning of the 21st century, Star Trek's prime directive has become a cultural mantra in the United States. The concept that all cultures, all religions and all human ideas are inherently equal is the battle cry of those spouting the new tolerance and promoting the concept that there are no absolute truths.
What is actually happening is that many concepts considered absolute truths by a majority of Americans for hundreds of years are being replaced, not with nonconfrontational tolerance, but with a new set of absolutes advanced with missionary zeal.
You don't believe it? Just ask someone who is proabortion if she is tolerant and accepting of someone who is pro-life. Or ask someone who supports homosexuality and gay marriage if he believes that a Christian who believes homosexuality is a sin is equally entitled to hold his position.
A changing landscape
William Watkins outlines the dramatic changes taking place in America's moral landscape in his book The New Absolutes. Let's look at some examples.
A few decades ago most people in the United States believed that the Christian religion formed the foundation of a moral society, although other religions were to be tolerated. The new absolute is that anything to do with Christianity must be eradicated from all public forums while non-Christian religions are promoted as a positive multicultural experience.
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Re-published from an earlier version
Intolerance: