Norm of Modern Society

In Janet Jakobsen and Ann Pellegrini’s article, Love the Sin…Sexual Regulation and the Limits of Religious Tolerance, the authors argues that tolerance, which is the norm of modern society, is not a solution to the social issues America is facing today but rather a reinforcement of the discrimination and social hierarchies that stem from these social issues. Tolerance separates the minority group that is being tolerated and is undemocratic.

Jakobsen and Pellegrini examined how religious tolerance was first established in colonial America; many people came to the colonies for religious freedom and to leave the oppression that was experienced in Europe. The authors examine William Penn who “offered only a narrow version of tolerance” (Jakobsen and Pellegrini 2003: 47) in which only Christian men were allowed to vote. This toleration only applied to various forms of Christianity, while all other religions could be eradicated. This intolerance for other religions is why Native Americans were discriminated against and eventually eradicated. Today, tolerances for other religions have expanded from only Christianity to include many other religions. However, this tolerance can be disrupted like in the example with Muslims after September 11th. After the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Muslims were singled out and were targets for discrimination and violence. The authors use one example in which several men murdered Muslims, believing they were patriots and defending America. This hatred comes from the author’s argument that tolerance maintains hatred through the discrimination and social hierarchies that stems from the hatred. The authors refer to this as us-them relationship in which “an “us” who must violently eradicate a “them” (Jakobsen and Pellegrini 2003:50). The authors describe this act of eradication as one defense not one of aggression like how the Muslim killings were seen a defense by the perpetrators or how the discrimination and eventual near eradication of Native Americans were seen as a duty for America.

Jakobsen and Pellegrini continue by discussing if the majority tolerates a minority, it can be said that the minority isn’t fully part of the majority. “If Americans” are asked to tolerate “homosexuals,” it means that at some level homosexuals are not fully Americans” (Jakobsen and