Most faiths do believe they are the one true religion otherwise they wouldn't be part of that faith. Does that mean they have to be intolerant to other faiths or teach hate? Of course not, and most people I know who are devout to their faith are not like that AT ALL! There are always going to be people who look down at others, and thats not specific to religion.

My DD goes to a Catholic school, we are not devout Christians, in fact we aren't even Christians. But we are raising our daughter and our son to experience parts of the Catholic faith as a base for religion. A lot of people would and have challenged us on this, and find it to be "wishy washy" but we have our reasons and we are happy with that.

As for the Santa thing, if there were a child at school who told everyone that Santa wasn't real, I would deal with that in the same way that I would if a child who wasn't religious said that. Its really not a big deal to me. And I've actually had the "Santa doesn't visit every house" talk with DD. She understands that some people don't believe in Santa, and so therefore he doesn't visit them. But its not a bad thing, its not because they are bad, its just because thats what they believe and thats Ok. I think if you are going to teach your child about Santa, it really is your responsibility to teach them that not every house has Santa. Just like not every house eats the same food or wears the same clothes. Its another part of tolerance.

The thing that always makes me laugh, is the idea its only people who are religious who "push their views", but yet when people push this view on others or push their anti views on others they are in fact doing the same thing. Tolerance doesn't mean you need to not have any beliefs, some of the most intolerant people I have ever met have had no faith or spiritual base. And just because one person may have given you a bad impression about a religion doesn't mean you need to judge the faith, judge the person sure but not the entire faith. Thats not fair.

As for judging a person for their faith. I think thats extremely intolerant. What a person decides to believe and how they choose to live their own lives within their home is their own choice. Provided they are not abusing their children, or breaking the law it really isn't up to us to judge. Judging them is as I said above no different to a religious person calling one a heathen because they don't follow a similar faith to them.

I love all my friends, of different faiths and different cultures. And I feel blessed to have them a part of my life and to share with me different aspects of their faith. And you know what, not once have I ever felt as though I am being "converted" or made to feel bad for my lack of faith. And I have taken part in many celebrations and aspects of other faiths and I intend on teaching my children all the things I have learnt and more.