Parshas Re'eh features the command to destroy and remove all avodah zarah (idolatry) from Eretz Yisroel. Immediately after this mitzvah, the parshah addresses the unique and exclusive role of the Beis Ha-Mikdash:

"And you shall fully obliterate all of the places where the nations which you inherit served their deities... and you shall smash their altars... and burn their Asheirah trees; and the statues of their gods you shall cut down, and you shall wipe out their name from that place. However, you may not do this to Hashem your God. For unto the place that Hashem your God shall choose from all your shevatim to place his Name there to dwell, you shall seek out and come there. And you shall bring there your burnt offerings and sacrifices, and your tithes... And it shall be that the place which Hashem your God designates to cause His Name to dwell there - there shall you bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes... For only at the place which Hashem your God chooses from among your tribes - there shall you offer your burnt offerings, and there shall you do all that I command you.... For only before Hashem your God shall you consume your sacrifice, in the place which Hashem your God designates..." (Devarim 12:2-18)

Although one would assume that the requirement to destroy and remove avodah zarah from Eretz Yisroel is not related to the role of the Beis Ha-Mikdash as the exclusive locus for Avodah (sacrificial service), it appears that the Torah in fact does relate these two concepts, as evidenced both by the adjacency of the above pesukim as well as their flow and the thematic continuity between them.

In what respect is the mitzvah to destroy and remove avodah zarah related to the exclusive role of the Beis Ha-Mikdash? After all, the mitzvah to eradicate idolatry from the Land applies to the entirety of Eretz Yisroel, whereas the exclusivity of the Beis Ha-Mikdash for Avodah is by definition limited to and focused only on the Beis Ha-Mikdash and does not relate to the entirety of Eretz Yisroel per se. The Torah establishes that Avodah by Jews throughout the world must be performed only in the Beis Ha-Mikdash; this regulation is not tied to Eretz Yisroel more than to any other location. As such, what is the relationship between eradicating avodah zarah from Eretz Yisroel and the exclusivity of the Beis Ha-Mikdash?

In truth, the Beis Ha-Mikdash significantly impacts religious life throughout Eretz Yisroel, for many mitzvos which pertain throughout Eretz Yisroel can only be performed when the Beis Ha-Mikdash is standing. Although the Beis Ha-Mikdash was located in Yerushalayim, it served as the epicenter for Jewish religious life, and its presence or absence had profound ramifications for mitzvah observance and the resultant spiritual state in the entire Land.

Based on this notion, we can answer our question. Hashem decreed it intolerable that idolatry should coexist in the Land alongside the Beis Ha-Mikdash. If the Beis Ha-Mikdash is to have its pervasive, all-encompassing and all-defining effect on the applicability of mitzvos throughout Eretz Yisroel and the spiritual state thereof, Eretz Yisroel must first be purified of avodah zarah. The metaphysical force and impact of the Beis Ha-Mikdash throughout Eretz Yisroel cannot be present while idolatrous structures are yet affixed to the Land and extant there. It is akin to tovail v'sheretz b'yado - immersing in a mikveh while simultaneously holding a contaminating creature.

When describing how to eradicate avodah zarah from Eretz Yisroel (a mitzvah that pertains only then there is total Jewish sovereignty), Chazal note that one must fully remove all roots of Asheirah trees. (See Rashi on Devarim 12:2, from Sifri.) This is consistent with the above explanation, for the Beis Ha-Mikdash cannot coexist with any trace of idolatry in the Land. Merely being mevatel (nullifying) avodah zarah is insufficient; one must erase and utterly uproot its presence.

The lesson for us is clear. Although during this Golus period, one may not go about eradicating avodah zarah structures of others, the notion that Torah can coexist with ideas and movements that contravene its axioms is intolerable. Yes, we strive to get along with everyone, but any tolerance of false ideologies, or professing the idea that the Torah allows for multiple truths or that values and movements which are inimical to Torah should be recognized or worked with on a religious basis, constitutes a grave violation of the sentiments and principles set forth by the Torah.

The Torah's rejection of religious pluralism is part and parcel of the Torah itself, upon which true allegiance to the Torah is based. To preach religious pluralism is to undermine the primacy and the exclusive, all-encompassing truth of the Torah.  

May we soon again merit to experience the Beis Ha-Mikdash in its glory as the epicenter of our lives and as the pervasive, impactful spiritual force that it was destined to be, as we return to Hashem with full hearts and minds.