“On examination, I have found [Hinduism] to be the most tolerant of all religions known to me. Its freedom from dogma makes a forcible appeal to me in as much as it gives the votary the largest scope for self-expression. Not being an exclusive religion, it enables the followers of the faith not merely to respect all the other religions, but it also enables them to admire and assimilate whatever may be good in the other faiths. Non-violence is common to all religions, but it has found the highest expression and application in Hinduism. (I do not regard Jainism or Buddhism as separate from Hinduism.) Hinduism believes in the oneness not of merely all human life but in the oneness of all that lives.”
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Freedom from rigid dogma leaves room to think for yourself and to borrow whatever is good from traditions not your own, without feeling threatened by them. Tolerance works less as polite indifference than as active appreciation: you can respect another view, learn from it, and still stand rooted in your own.
When to use it
- A cook adopts spices and methods from her neighbors' cuisines without abandoning her own recipes.
- A reader keeps books by thinkers she disagrees with and takes what rings true from each.
- A congregation invites a speaker from another faith and finds common ground rather than a threat.