Christians Are Intolerant of Other Viewpoints

Christians are often accused of being intolerant.  The view comes from an incorrect view of what it means to be tolerant.  The view is that tolerance means accepting all other views as true. 

Tolerance

tol-er-ance

a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from one's own; freedom from bigotry.,  dictionary.com

We practice tolerance for that which we don't agree with or that which we believe is false.  Tolerance doesn't accept all views as true it involves practicing restraint towards views that are different.  If people accepted all views to be true there would be no need for tolerance.  Tolerance only needs to be practiced when people disagree.  Think about it, do you tolerate things you like? 

Being Accused of Intolerance
If you're accused of being intolerant the response might go something like this:

Bob: Christians are intolerant of other religions.  You all think you're right and they're wrong. John: Why are you being intolerant of my views? Bob: I'm not being intolerant you're the one that says other religions are wrong. John: But you're not being accepting of my views.  You think I'm wrong.  You are being intolerant.

The problem with this view of tolerance is that it says it accepts all views as being valid except for the view that all views aren't valid.  The statement doesn't even meet it's own view of tolerance.  It's very misunderstood view of what tolerance really is.

Tolerance is about respecting the other person you disagree with because they are made in the image of God the same as you are.  However, it doesn't require you to respect their held views. 

Intolerance of Tolerance
One of the books I've recommended in the past is I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist.  One of the authors, Frank Turek, is right now experiencing the secular intolerance of tolerance.  Dr. Turek was just fired by Cisco Systems for his political and religious views even though his views were never expressed in the course of his work at Cisco.  The story is here.

Resources
True For You, But Not For Me by Paul Copan, Chapter 5
The Intolerance of Tolerance article by Gregory Koukl
Why Are Christians So Intolerant? article on PleaseConvinceMe.com
Apologetics 315: Terminology Tuesday: Tolerance blog post on Apologetics 315