Heresy is a belief system which disagrees with the ”One True Faith”, what ever that is. There are as many different versions of the True Faith as there are different believers. See How many gods?.
Heretic[]
"A Heretic does not believe exactly what I believe and is therefore an abomination."
Above is an intolerant viewpoint. Many different Religions and Sects and denominations are intolerant. Other religions and sects are more tolerant and tend not to use words like heretic. Typically a heretic disagrees with the “True Believers” in some ways but still belongs to the religion. Those who disagree radically and don't belong to the religion are seen as unbelievers or infidels.
Tolerance and intolerance[]
Some religions and some individuals are tolerant of those who disagree with them. Others are thoroughly intolerant. Historically Roman Catholics and Protestants have been imaginative in finding ways of torturing and killing those they saw as heretics as have Islammic fundamentalists. [1][2]
See also[]
- Apostasy
- Fun:Heresy This was meant as satire but shows how religious intolerance kills.
References[]
- ↑ Christianity and Violence: Reformation From Atheism.About.com
- ↑ Tudor Heretics Like the above this is in simple language but the description of torture is spine chilling.