Pluralism, or moral relativism, is a rope tightly fastened around the neck of Western civilization. In biblical terms, pluralism is polytheism—the national sin of forgetting the Lord (Deut. 6:12-15). In practical terms, it is the denial of objective truth, the abandonment of morality, and the compromising of justice. Of course, it doesn’t present itself as such. Instead, it masquerades under the guise of false virtues like “universal tolerance,” which we’re told is a Christian virtue.
However, the inability to recognise that the value of “tolerance” is determined by the value of the thing tolerated has plunged the Western world into the spiritually dark and confused state it is now in. It mistook “universal tolerance” for a Christian virtue—not merely tolerance for a brother with a differing opinion, but the indulgence of objective evil, that which erodes a nation, undermines its moral foundations, and dilutes its Christian heritage.
Tolerance, when it involves accepting ideas and actions contrary to God’s Law of love, is not a Christian virtue. It is a sin. Christians are commanded to love sincerely, a love that hates evil, not tolerates it (Rom. 12:9). In fact, they are to have nothing to do with the works of evil, but to expose them for what they are, not to tolerate, but to actively avoid them (Eph. 5:11). “Intolerance” can be said to be just as much a Christian virtue as tolerance, because both are measured by the object tolerated or opposed.
As Christians, we are commanded to love our neighbour. This Christian love must involve actively opposing that which threatens the well-being of others. A parent who allows a small child to swim unsupervised, play on a dangerous road, or eat only sweets for every meal cannot be called a loving parent. There is obviously no regard for the child’s well-being. True love has an aversion to the things that harm its object, so there must always be an intolerance for that which threatens those we love.
Those who love God ought to love Him—and their neighbours—not by being indifferent to evil, but by hating it (Ps. 97:10). The fear of the Lord is not only the beginning of wisdom but also the hatred of evil (Pr. 8:13). Therefore, we are not to tolerate evil but to actively resist it (Jam. 4:7). In the Book of Revelation, the church that is intolerant of evil is the one Jesus praises (Rev. 2:2-3). Not only could they not bear those who were evil, but they also actively “hated” their works (v. 6).
Hate, like intolerance, is not an inherently immoral emotion or action. God loves and God hates (Pro. 6:16-19). As with tolerance, the morality of both love and hate is determined by the object loved or hated. Both can be either morally good or bad. It all depends on where it is directed.
For instance, to love evil is evil (Ps. 52:3). To hate evil is good. Therefore, Christians must embrace rightly directed hatred just as much as rightly directed love. To love what is good is to hate what is evil. That morally good hatred will not tolerate harmful and evil things, but will actively oppose them, just as we wouldn’t “tolerate” a venomous snake in a loved one’s bed.
To claim we love our neighbour while remaining indifferent to what threatens them with harm is not genuine love, but an empty profession. This is true of individuals and collectives. Embracing such a harmful and indifferent approach on a national level is nothing short of national suicide. When it’s done so under the guise of “love,” or “Christian tolerance,” it only compounds the sin with hypocrisy. Thus, the Christian West, if it is to survive, must be intolerant of every system that poses a threat to that which is objectively good, true, and just. The system must be protected, so that it may protect others.
As R.J. Rushdoony aptly said in Institutes of Biblical Law, “There can be no tolerance in a law system for another religion. Toleration is a device used to introduce a new law system as a prelude to a new intolerance… Every law system must maintain its existence by hostility to every other law system and to alien religious foundations, or else it commits suicide.”
It was no mere accident that the West’s abandonment of Christianity, and tolerance for everything else, was immediately followed by its degradation and downfall. We cannot remove the foundations without compromising the entire structure. The foundation upon which the Western world was built was a firm commitment to Christ as supreme King, and thus, the definer of what is true, good, and just. As such, there ought to be zero tolerance for anything less than that, because anything less than that will inevitably be false, bad, and unjust.
For Western civilization to survive, it must relearn the lost Christian virtue of intolerance. It must embrace what is objectively good and refuse to indulge anything that undermines or threatens that good. If we truly believe that God is love and that God’s self-revelation is love, then anything contrary to Christianity is, by definition, not love, and therefore not good—not even for those who insist on embracing it to their own hurt.
As such, we must seek the well-being of our neighbour by upholding and preserving that which best protects them—namely, Christian morals, Christian law, and Christian values, while being averse to everything contrary. To do otherwise by tolerating what harms our neighbour is to fail to love them as we ought. Ultimately, we tolerate evil to our own demise and the demise of our neighbour.
At present, the rope of universal tolerance is firmly around the neck of Western civilization, and it is only one small step away from national suicide. Christians must once again learn to hate evil. Though they will face derision and name-calling—as Jesus Himself foretold—the true sacrifice of love is willingly enduring hatred for upholding what is good, true, and just.
Hence, the Lord said, “The world hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil” (Jn. 7:7). We are called to love God and our neighbour, as Christ so loved the world, regardless of the cost. Anything short of this is neither loving nor Christian.
