The growing Muslim population in Western Europe has generated renewed interest in the issue of religious toleration in public spaces, which is for instance illustrated by debates on the wearing of headscarves in various European countries and the recent ban on minarets in Switzerland. Research has shown that intolerant opinions are not only present among prejudiced, but also among unprejudiced people. This raises the question of how religious tolerance towards Muslims can be explained. This paper uses German survey data (collected Spring 2009) to examine the interrelatedness of religious toleration of Muslims, anti-Muslim prejudice and more abstract value orientations such as universalism, traditionalism and multiculturalism. The paper compares levels of religious toleration with respect to dress code (wearing of headscarves), education (Islamic education in German public schools), practicing religion (building of mosques), and celebrating religion (status important Islamic holidays), it examines whether these aspects of religious toleration have the same explanatory model, and it shows whether prejudice or value orientations are more important in predicting religious tolerance towards Muslims.
