"Toleration is not the opposite of intolerance but the counterfeit of it"

[TechBear_Seattle]

Toleration is not the opposite of intolerance but the counterfeit of it. Both are despotisms: the one assumes to itself the right of withholding liberty of conscience, the other of granting it. -- Thomas Paine, American patriot, The Rights of Man ("Being an Answer to Mr. Burke's Attack on the French Revolution", part 7)

The context of this quote is a discussion on how the post-revolution Constitution of France abolished the ties between the country and the Catholic Church and replaced it with "universal right of conscience." The passage quote above continues with, "The one is the Pope armed with fire and faggot, and the other is the Pope selling or granting indulgences. The former is church and state, and the latter is church and traffic."

I would be interested in seeing some discussion on this quote. Do you think Paine is correct in his assesment? Can his observation on tolerance and intolerance be applied to areas other than religion, such as race, gender and political views?