OTTO H. SELLES
French Department
Calvin College
Tel: 616-526-6805
oselles@calvin.edu
Calvin Lectureship
February-May 2009

Tolerance’s Boundaries

Lecture One:   Tolerance: Virtue or Vice?

Suitable for general educated audiences, particularly those interested in Cultural Studies, French, Political Science, Religious Studies, Philosophy, History, and Sociology.

When examined closely, “tolerance” is a rather slippery word. Praised by many as an essential value that holds together a pluralistic society, others criticize tolerance as a form of moral relativism and the sign of a society lacking in stable beliefs. And when used, does “tolerance” refer to religion, sexual identity, politics, taste in music, or all of the above? Is the boundary between what a society “tolerates” absolute or changeable? For example, do the U.S., Canada, and Europe have opposing views of what “tolerance” means? In providing an overview of how the concept of tolerance developed in the West, particularly during the Enlightenment, this lecture will examine the place of tolerance in contemporary society, both globally and locally. 

 

Lecture Two:   Tolerance and “Fanaticism”: The Huguenot Sect of the “Multipliers” (Montpellier, France, 1720-1723)

Suitable for an academic audience. Disciplines: French, History, Religious Studies, Sociology, Philosophy, and Law.

In early Eighteenth-Century France, a Huguenot (French-Calvinist) widow named Anne Robert-Verchand had a vision that inspired her to organize clandestine worship services in her Montpellier home. Known as les Multipliants (the Multipliers), her group followed prophetic inspirations to create occult rituals based on Protestant and Roman Catholic practices. Arrested in 1723, the group’s leaders were executed that same year, but not before undergoing lengthy interrogations. During the same period, Huguenot leaders in France and Geneva debated how to react to the sect. This lecture will analyze why both royal and church authorities could not “tolerate,” nor understand, the Multipliants’ prophetic mindset.

 

Lecture Three:   Just Kidding? Tolerance, Religion, and Humor

Suitable for educated Christian audiences

Everything seems to start with a joke, as preachers join politicians, late-might comedians, and newscasters to warm up their listeners with a humorous anecdote, right before diving into the good news. Yet how far should the joking go? In a free society, for example, do you not have the right to poke fun at my beliefs and I at yours?  Humor has indeed been used effectively to argue for tolerance—to get stern believers to “lighten up,” but a religious joke can quickly be perceived as an insult, if not a sacrilege. This lecture will study the place of humor within Christianity and, more broadly, the relationship between humor and religion in contemporary society.