There are those who claim that the US was founded on Judeo-Christian tradition and values. There are also those who claim that the great founding documents stem from the European enlightenment. I happen to belong to the latter camp, but what is more important is that the First Amendment is an expression of tolerance in the service of civility. It is not a barrier to any religion but a haven for all--even for atheists. We seem to be tearing that apart, which leads me to want to offer some insights from a source relatively unknown in America. Several postings have referred to the quote from Jewish German poet Heinrich Heine--one of the great masters of the German language, who said, "Dort, wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man am Ende auch Menschen." or, "Where they burn books, in the end they will also burn human beings." Heine's own books were burned by Hitler and we know what followed.
I offer here another insight by a figure of somewhat earlier German literature, Gotthold Lessing, whose parable of tolerance is also little known in the US, but can offer insight for these increasingly troubled times from his play, "Nathan the Wise."
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