Religious Intolerance Can Lead To Violence

Muslims & America: What should "tolerance" mean in an online world?

http://www.readthespirit.com/ourvalues/2009/11/muslims-america-tolerance-with-teeth.html

This statement is absolutely true, not only proven with facts but also in theory. This can be connected to things that occur today, many people make the stereotype that anyone from the middle east is Muslim and and therefore also a terrorist, they also assume that all terrorists are Muslim and treat them without dignity and judgment .There have been many disputes and violence who has the TRUE religion, but the truth is they are all "TRUE", at least to those who choose believe them. Everyone should be entitled to choose their God or what they live their life by, and other should respect that. The main issue here is that we as Americans stereotype anyone from the middle east as a terrorist.What one person believes in terms of religion usually doesn't affect others (accept in cases where they believe in something that harms people), I do not understand why people feel they must change all people to one religion or have one dominant one. Yes I feel strongly about my religion and if someone is open to hearing about it I will definitely try to help them learn about it or tell them what it is all about, but by no means do I feel the need to force people or criticise them for not believing what I do. People find God in all different places in all different places and its great that they do cause our personalities and needs on a faith level are different. There are many reasons for hatred, and there are simple solutions to all of them; understanding and eliminating ignorance. These are things that would do a world of difference because I think that if people learned about each other and accepted that all people and places of the world are different that they can understand them believing what they do. On another level if you increase the tolerance and understanding that people have for each other than this would ease a lot of tension creating less violence all around the world. People just need to understand that we are all trying to make our mark on the world, and everyone has a different way of doing that. Disregarding race, religion, and nationality, we are really all people. It just so happens that those things are the things people notice right away and judge, this is why our world lacks peace and unity.