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Quotes by Joel Belz

1

[There is] a perverse assumption now dominant among evangelicals that feelings, attitudes and relationships are all more important than truth. Unity is a higher priority than orthodoxy. Division, even for truth’s sake, becomes the most offensive of heresies.

2

I’m planning to be civil toward any of my neighbors who may be heading for the local mosque. But in no way will I accept the charge that to tell them of the truth of the gospel of Jesus is to jeopardize the “pluralism” that has made America a great springboard of freedom for so many generations. And no way either will I concede the right – a right that has now become a duty – to tell them that the error of their thinking is profound. I will do that not because I hate them, but because I love them.

3

"Tolerance" gives me room to say, "I think you’re wrong, but I’ll defend your right to be wrong."  "Pluralism" suggests, much more strongly than most folks admit, that there isn’t such thing as right and wrong – and no such thing as truth and error.  As it is practiced more and more in America, pluralism tends to require that you not only leave room for your neighbor to believe what he believes, but that you also refrain from disagreeing with it.  There’s a world of difference between the two perspectives.  Tolerance promotes civility combined with clear thinking.  Pluralism promotes civility combined with mushy-headedness.