Why are some religions intolerant in their outlook?

A:Religions are all to some extent in a competitive environment. One of the few ways in which they can compete for adherent is by asserting that other beliefs are wrong. While some religions do so graciously and with tact, some religions demand that the listener believe all other religions to be wrong. By teaching that unbelievers will go to hell, they can then take the next step and say that anyone who does not follow the truth is condemned to eternal life in hell. This is the road to religious intolerance.

The Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Islam and, to some extent, Judaism), being monotheistic have a special tendency to intolerance. A follower of a polytheistic religion has no particular problem if someone else believes in yet another god. But the Abrahamic religions teach that there is only one God, so everyone who worships any other god if wrong. Not only wrong, but potentially calling the Jew, Christian or Muslim a liar! To extremists, the response has been to burn the sacred texts, destroy the statues ('idols') and temples, and persecute the believers.