Christian absolutes have been diluted or removed as the basis of society and replaced with a world view that says, "We do not have to accept that the Christian way of doing things (basing our world and life view on biblical principles) is the only way; we must tolerate all religious beliefs and ways of life." However, this "tolerance" really means an intolerance of the absolutes of Christianity. This false idea of tolerance has subtly undermined Christianity, and most Christians have not recognized what was really happening. Many Christians have been deceived into believing they have no right to impose their views on society. We are told, for instance, that anti-abortionists have no business impressing their particular bias on society. Have you ever heard anyone say this about the pro-abortion groups? The result is one bias being imposed on society by the pro-abortionists legalized abortion on demand! No matter what you do, you cannot avoid the fact that a view is being imposed on someone by someone. There is no such thing as neutrality, although many Christians become ensnared in the trap of believing there is.

It is like the many theological and Bible colleges that say, "We do not take a dogmatic stand on Genesis. We tolerate all views." But what happens when someone comes along and says, "Will you allow the view that says you must take Genesis literally?" "Oh, no!" they say, "We cannot allow that view because we tolerate all views!" In reality, they have taken a dogmatic stand to teach a dogmatic view to their students a view that you do not have to take Genesis literally if you do not want to do so.

At one lecture I gave, a person said in an angry tone, "This is not fair. You are insisting that we take Genesis literally, that God actually took six days, that evolution is not true, and that there really was a worldwide flood. You are being intolerant of other peoples views. You must show tolerance for people such as I who believe God used evolution and that Genesis is only symbolic."

I then asked, "Well, what do you want me to do?"

The person replied, "You must allow other views and be tolerant of opinions different to yours."

"Well," I said, "My view is that the literal interpretation of Genesis is the right view. All other views concerning Genesis are wrong. Will you tolerate my view?"

The person looked shocked, and he hesitated. I could almost hear him thinking, If I say yes, then Ive allowed him to say you cant have another view such as mine; if I say no, then Ive obviously been intolerant of his view what do I do? He then looked at me and said, "Thats semantics!" What he really meant was that he had lost the argument and did not want to admit his intolerance of my position. The fact is, he had taken a dogmatic, closed-minded position.