Truth, Justice and the Torturing of Tolerance

The people in the region of my birth were characterized by stoic independence or secular liberalism -- or both. On Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings, I gathered with fellow believers in church. But outside those walls -- at school or work -- very few Christians could be found. A defining virtue of these communities was tolerance. Tolerance was expected, modeled and taught. Tolerance is a value rooted in both a democratic society and a Christian worldview -- so in theory, I had nothing to worry about.