The word "tolerance" has undergone quite a transformation in recent times. When I was growing up it meant believing that everyone had an equal right to their opinion, even if they were wrong. However, it now means believing that every opinion is equally right. If you dare to believe that your belief is right, and that the differing beliefs of others are wrong, then, you are excoriated in today's world as intolerant. Of course, this means that you really can't believe anything anymore, except that all opinions are equally right and none are wrong, not even if they're nutty.
Not only have we redefined the meaning of tolerance in today's America, but we've also rewritten our history. For instance, few Americans today understand that our religious liberty is a result of our Christian heritage. The Biblical doctrines of soul competency and the priesthood of the believer teach us two tremendous truths. First, that all men have a God-given right to choose what they believe. Second, that God will hold all men accountable for what they choose to believe. Faith cannot be coerced, it must be chosen; neither can it be mandated, it must be voluntary. Therefore, there can be no state imposed church nor enforced creed. Instead, there must be religious liberty.
If God Himself does not force men to believe, what right do we have to try to do so? The Christian faith, unlike other faiths, is not militant, but evangelistic. It does’t try to pressure and conquer others, like Islam, the Religion of the Sword, but to persuade and convert others. This, explains why Jesus not only said, “My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight” (John 18:36), but also rebuked Peter and told him to put up his sword, because “they that take the sword shall perish with the sword” (Matthew 26:52).
Our country’s religious liberty is the glory of our Christian heritage, as was asserted by a former Chief Justice of our Supreme Court, Charles Hughes. Still, this doesn’t mean that today’s Christians can’t speak out against false faiths and false religions. Granted, we can’t call for them to be outlawed, but we can and must meet our Biblical obligation to defend the one and only true faith, which was once and for all delivered to the saints, against all false faiths and false religions (Jude 1:3).
While calls for FBI Director Kash Patel to be fired from the Trump Administration or to even be deported from our country over his wishing of Americans a “Happy Diwali,” the Hindu festival of lights, are completely beyond the pale, there is certainly nothing wrong with Christians calling for all Americans to turn instead to Jesus Christ, the real and only Light of the World (John 8:12). In fact, it is our Christ-given commission in this world to call for others to turn from polytheism, the Hindu’s belief in many gods, to monotheism, the Christian belief in only one God—the Lord Jesus Christ. Likewise, it is our Christ-given commission to compel Hindus, like Mr. Patel, to turn from Hinduism’s reincarnation to Christianity’s Incarnation and from attempting to earn nirvana by the good works of multiple lives to accepting God’s gift of eternal life through faith in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, our doing so is certainly not intolerant, racist, or xenophobic, but something we are compelled to do not only by Christ’s Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20), but also by His love for the whole world, which has been deposited in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5).