The New Religious Intolerance

Overcoming the Politics of Fear in an Anxious Age

Drawing inspiration from philosophy, history, and literature, Martha C. Nussbaum takes us to task for our religious intolerance, identifies the fear behind it, and offers a way past fear toward a more equitable, imaginative, and free society, through the consistent application of universal principles of respect for conscience.

©2012 Martha C. Nussbaum (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

If only faith were rational

I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and I agreed heartily with all of Ms Nussbaum's thinking (except of course for the White Sox thing), but I fear that her very logical approach is at odds with the irrationality of far too many people of faith. What she leaves out of the equation of religious intolerance is any discussion of the problem of human beings who are convinced they can read the mind of god and are thus self-justified in their intolerance. It is one thing, as Pascal noted, to wager on the side of the existence of god for oneself, but quite another to decide that everyone else must make the same wager. My sense is that religious intolerance began with monotheism and is unlikely to wane as long so many insist that their version of god is the only one permissible.