Posted: 11/18/2009 10:47:54 PM EDT
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A recent thread on Mormon missionaries got me thinking about religious intolerance. I am a Christian. I have gone to a variety of protestant churches, some of which I liked and some of which turned me off. One big reason why some of them made me question their belief system is religious intolerance. I have my own set of beliefs, part impressed by the church I grew up in and also things I picked up from actually reading the Bible. And one of those characteristics that was impressed upon me was the idea that one should be civil and agree to disagree. For instance, I have a very broad group of friends. My best friend growing up was Jewish. I've been to his Synagogue. It was a cool experience. I have friends who are Muslim. It really changed my perspective on the "US vs. Islam" mentality that many have. After being born and raised in Arizona, I have many Mormon friends, including my best friend who is currently in Chile on an LDS mission. Also, growing up in AZ with hispanics, many of my friends are Roman Catholic. While I disagree with those other religions and versions of Christianity, I don't hate them for it. I see no reason to bash them during Sunday School or listen to sermons bashing them. I disagree. I think the path to heaven is different from what they think. But the Bible says to love your neighbor. Half of being a Christian is being kind and loving to those around you, even if you don't particularly like them or what they have to say. It's the right thing to do. And I don't like it when others don't understand that message. I know this will be a rant in the negative point scale, but does anyone else agree? Let's just be civil.  |
| Sorry, but there already is a 'test case' for Intolerance of certain religious practices. Of course the courts have to prove that these practices hurt society MORE than if they were tolerated. Sorry, but i know enough about religions to know that some are just scams rather than an inherited tribal custom. (AKA Judaism etc.) Some just have their adherants practicing POLYGAMY, animal sacrifice, drug use, bodily mutilation and who knows what the fuck else. Sheeet, i wanna directly inject heroin into my cock vein!! Welp, i'll just say its religious! And I would have historical examples on my side! heck, temple prostitutes too! when they founding fathers talked about freedom of religion their big issue of the day was Transubstantiation Vs. Consubstantiation. whoop de doo! |
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IBTL.. it's inevitable. I found I became much more understanding if not more tolerant of the religious practices of some after I found a solid foundation for my own faith. If it's in the Bible, it's GTG. If it's not found in the Bible, then you gotta haves patience. I will speak up about folks who add to or subtract from scripture to suit their needs but tend to avoid doing it without first confronting them personally. The deeper you go into your faith, the more study and prayer it requires. |
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The moment you create two different groups doing nominally the same thing, it is human nature for intolerance to follow. Doesn't matter if it's churches, football teams, Glock vs 1911 owners.
The group I belong to is always going to be better than the group you belong to, if for no other reason than I belong to it and I think I'm right. |
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True. However, there are two kinds of intolerance.
The first kind is where group A believes that group B is wrong and stands up against their perceived error/practice and attempts to teach them and others the error of group B's ways. The second kind of intolerance is where group A believes that group B is wrong and stands up against their perceived error/practice by dehumanizing group B and either FORCING group B to change their views under threat of violence/death or persecutes/murders them for refusing. I don't care about the first kind of intolerance. That's normal. It's the second kind that is despicable. Unfortunately, many groups throughout history have been unwilling to stick with intolerance A and went full retard. (Roman Catholic Church, Islam, many European Reformation groups). Today, it's "radical" Islam (the real Islam) that's the largest proponent of intolerance type 2. AV1611 out...... Quoted:
The moment you create two different groups doing nominally the same thing, it is human nature for intolerance to follow. Doesn't matter if it's churches, football teams, Glock vs 1911 owners. The group I belong to is always going to be better than the group you belong to, if for no other reason than I belong to it and I think I'm right. |
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Quoted:
A recent thread on Mormon missionaries got me thinking about religious intolerance. I am a Christian. I have gone to a variety of protestant churches, some of which I liked and some of which turned me off. One big reason why some of them made me question their belief system is religious intolerance. I have my own set of beliefs, part impressed by the church I grew up in and also things I picked up from actually reading the Bible. And one of those characteristics that was impressed upon me was the idea that one should be civil and agree to disagree. For instance, I have a very broad group of friends. My best friend growing up was Jewish. I've been to his Synagogue. It was a cool experience. I have friends who are Muslim. It really changed my perspective on the "US vs. Islam" mentality that many have. After being born and raised in Arizona, I have many Mormon friends, including my best friend who is currently in Chile on an LDS mission. Also, growing up in AZ with hispanics, many of my friends are Roman Catholic. While I disagree with those other religions and versions of Christianity, I don't hate them for it. I see no reason to bash them during Sunday School or listen to sermons bashing them. I disagree. I think the path to heaven is different from what they think. But the Bible says to love your neighbor. Half of being a Christian is being kind and loving to those around you, even if you don't particularly like them or what they have to say. It's the right thing to do. And I don't like it when others don't understand that message. I know this will be a rant in the negative point scale, but does anyone else agree? Let's just be civil. I couldn't agree more. My early schooling consisted of 12 years of Catholic school, in that time I was taught that Jews, and Muslims are our brothers and are basically good people and believe in the same God. I was taught tolerance, understanding, compassion even for athiests. etc etc. Hard to believe huh? When everyone was protesting the Vietnam war, we were having school Mass praying for the troops.... now when I look back I realize just how rare my school must have been. |
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Quoted: Civility is fine, but it doesn't mean remaining silent in the face of falsehood and injustice. You are supposed to love your neighbor as yourself, but you have no obligation to respect their actions or their views as you would your own. That's entirely too fucking reasonable, so stop it before somebody gets hurt. When I was out working the census I spent a lot of hours out walking in the heat. I passed a guy walking around with a weed eater and a gas can. He was very red in the face and getting that white ring around his mouth. I told him, "Brother you need to get you some shade and some water, you're about to fall out." He was still sweating so it wasn't too late, but it was damn close. He said, "Thank you and God bless." Now me being the rabid soulless atheist I am, I told him, "You're welcome, and you too." I might talk smack on here when it comes to the particulars of religion, but I'll never bust a guys chops when they come outright and say it's faith. And that guy meant it. I don't have to believe him to appreciate the sentiment and not shit on him for proselytizing. |