Lately I have been reminded of how my emotions can override my wish to be respectful and tolerant of those with different opinions. Personally, I wish to be respectful to hopefully get some respect in return. And I wish to be tolerant, with the idea that I will also have my views tolerated. But as we know, showing respect and tolerance doesn't necessarily mean that it will be returned. So, are there other reasons for being respectful and tolerant?
   I propose there are other reasons, maybe more important reasons, for the Deist to respect others, and to tolerate their peculiarities. I am not suggesting that we tolerate those actions that harm us or others, just the differences that don't do any real harm. 
   Maybe we should define respect and tolerance before going on. The American Heritage Dictionary defines "Respect" in part as:

   1. To feel or show deferential regard for; esteem
   2. To avoid violation of or interference with

 And "Tolerance" in part as:

   1. The capacity for or the practice of recognizing and      respecting the beliefs or practices of others.

   Please note that in neither of these definitions are the words like, believe, or agree used in anyway. Being respectful and tolerant does not mean that you have to agree with others. It does mean that you need to show reasonable respect for them, and not try to interfere with their rights to free speech or free thought. Also, we can and should, hold them accountable for their actions.
   It is my belief, and you don't have to agree with me, that people should allow others the same right to express themselves as you would want for yourself. This is especially true, when we disagree with the ideas. To do otherwise is being intolerant. Also, you cannot show toleration for those that you do agree with. To call yourself a tolerant person, you have to show deferential regard for those that you don't agree with.
   Censorship is one of the most common ways that we show intolerance. Don't like the message; don't shoot the messenger, just burn the message.
   Another way of showing intolerance towards others is by labeling them derogatorily. Of course, most people will not make a frontal assault and call the person they disagree with, "a stupid idiot that smells." Although, they will make backhanded insults which are not directly aimed at an individual. Say for instance I was to write something like, "Anybody who believes that cannot have the mental abilities to achieve much past an elementary education or keep decent hygiene." Both are showing intolerance towards others by trying to degrade the person in question.
   We are all humans. Therefore we should expect and get reasonable amounts of respect for just being. That includes those of us that occasionally mess up. Tolerance doesn't mean freeing people of responsibilities for their actions. It just means that we give everyone an equal opportunity to express their ideas. We also give everyone an equal chance to pursue happiness in their own way. Being tolerant means that we don't compel others to believe as we do, but we can still be tolerant and try persuade others to our points of view. 
   The revealed religions will try to persuade others to believe as they do. Which is fine, that is how it should be, but they become intolerant when they step over the line and become coercive. We hear of extreme forms of intolerance, but many people practice less extreme forms of compulsion. These less extreme forms of compulsion are used so much, we often do not recognize them. 
   Ostracism is one common form of pressure used by those in the revealed religions. They will avoid the person and will often try to find ways to make their lives hard. They will actively try to compel the person back in line or try to discredit them to the rest of the world. This is necessary for revealed religions, because they cannot have their dogma challenged. Otherwise, the religious sect would fall apart.
  Deists should not take part in any compulsion to advance their personal views. This is not dogma, just plain common sense. Deism is a belief which people come to on their own, so any force used to change anyone's beliefs is illogical. Persuasion is the only legitimate way for Deism to grow. Therefore, Deists should restrain from using compulsion and instead concentrate on using persuasion. This should especially be true within our Deist communities.