On not tolerating intolerance

So Chris Hedges, Pulitzer Prize-winning correspondent for The New York Times, apparently thinks that the Christian right should not be tolerated, i.e., freedom of speech and freedom of religion privileges for them should be withdrawn. I gather that the reasoning is that (1) the Christian right is intolerant, (2) tolerant liberals do not need to tolerate the intolerant, ergo … My question: if liberals do not tolerate the Christian right, does that mean the Christian right has no obligation to tolerate liberals by parity of reasoning? It seems to me that we might want to be careful where we go with this reasoning on behalf of intolerance.

I also find it interesting how everyone reviewing Hedges’ new book makes a point of noting that he went to Harvard Divinity School. The idea seems to be that this establishes his expertise about the Christian right. But I would have thought that it would be good evidence for precisely the opposite. I would have thought that most Harvard Div students would know one and only one thing about the Christian right: that they’re not that, whatever it is.
– Sydney