<blockquote>
alex: I guess from my perspective... Tolerance should be promoted as much as possible - and the limits on what is possible rule out tolerating intolerant views.

But that is to value tolerance above all else...
Something that the (official version of) the worlds major religions would reject...

Yes, and no. My primary criticism of religion would be that it is a human construction and because of this, it's going to be flawed because humans are flawed -- not perfect. However, I couldn't agree that all religions preach intolerance, but rather, that there are always going to be some humans within that religious structure who will preach intolerance. This goes for aetheists as well, who -- as someone else noted (salukigirl, maybe) -- can be every bit as dogmatic, in-your-face, and self-righteous as the most die-hard fundamentalist.

Part of the problem is that one crowd is noisier than the other for there are many people who self-identify with a particular religious strain who quietly go along, living their lives to the best of their abilities within the constraints of their faith, without making a fuss. To draw a parallel... no one ever hears much about the non-violent "schizophrenics". When's the last time you saw a headline that said... "Schizophrenic stays in room, listens to music and draws pictures"? No, it's always "Schizophrenic shooter rampages school!" (If it's later discovered that the shooter wasn't schizophrenic, you won't hear much about that either.) As a result, there is a distorted impression that schizophrenia has a direct link with violent behavior.

Likewise, there may be a distortion that all religions preach intolerance while the elements of tolerance are overlooked simply because they're not as splashy.