We are not speaking here of the believers across the planet who suffer grievous harm for the sake of faith. We\u2019re talking instead about something else: the slow-motion marginalizing and penalizing of believers on the very doorsteps of the churches of North America, Europe, and elsewhere, in societies that are the very historical strongholds of political and religious liberty.<\/p>\n
Men and women of faith in these societies are well-off, compared to many others. At the same time, though, their world is unmistakably darker and more punitive than it used to be. Let us show empathy and solidarity with all people who need it. Repeating the cardinal\u2019s watchword, mercy, we hope that moral and political and intellectual leaders of all persuasions hear it too.<\/p>\n
For there is no mercy in putting butchers and bakers and candlestick makers in the legal dock for refusing to renounce their religious beliefs\u201d\u201dbut that\u2019s what the new intolerance does. There is no mercy in stalking and threatening Christian pastors for being Christian pastors, or in casting out social scientists who turn up unwanted facts, or in telling a flight attendant she can\u2019t wear a crucifix, or in persecuting organizations that do charitable work\u201d\u201dbut the new intolerance does these things, too. There\u2019s no mercy in yelling slurs at anyone who points out that the sexual revolution has been flooding the public square with problems for a long time now and that, in fact, some people out there are drowning\u201d\u201dbut slurs are the new intolerance\u2019s stock in trade. Above all, there is no mercy in slandering people by saying that religious believers \u201chate\u201d\u009d certain people when in fact they do not; or that they are \u201cphobes\u201d\u009d of one stripe or another when in fact they are not. This, too, happens all over public space these days, with practically no pushback from anyone. This, too, is the new intolerance at work.<\/p>\n