Religion and political tolerance

Abstract

The author endeavors to demonstrate that the realization of tolerance in a contemporary society is impossible without respecting different religious conceptions of the world. In other words, if one of such conceptions becomes politically relevant, that very fact amounts, as a rule, to some degree of restriction of other religions. This is why in the world political centers it has become obvious that only by creating legal prerequisites of ensuring the equality in status and position, it would be possible to realize political tolerance in pluri-confessional society. These prerequisites are created by enacting relevant international documents, such as the General Declaration of Human Rights and the Pact on Civil and Political Rights of Man. In such a way, and in accordance to the scope of implementation of these two documents, one may speak at present of reciprocal existence of religious tolerance in any social and political system.

Raspravljati o religiji političkoj toleranciji nije moguće bez stavljanja ove dve tekovine ljudskog duha u konkretnu praksu. Sve religije govore o tome da su primer poštovanja slobode i da jedina prava sloboda postoji u njihovom okviru. S druge strane, istorija je bila poprište krvavih ratova u ime različitih koncepata tolerancije za koje su se zalagale pojedine religije. U savremenom svetu se pokazalo da je ostvarivanje slobodnog društva i prave tolerancije uopšte, a samim tim i političke, nemoguće bez odvajanja vere od države. Taj proces koji je dobio planetarne razmere ipak ne ide onako kako bi se to očekivalo i netolerancija izazvana, između ostalog, i religijskom isključivošću još uvek vlada u velikim delovima planete.