How did this thread become about religion again? Anyway.
Do you think that this includes humans who are Christians, Catholics, Hindus, Muslim, Wiccan etc., who live with respectfuly towards others?
What/whose rules of respect are you basing your convictions on that you come to this conclusion?
I myself am a Pagan. I have been a Christian in the past. My issue is with Religious Doctrines. I only have issues with religious persons when they espouse those doctrines (I argue against their views) or when they try to force their views onto others.
Respect as I use the term is the recognition of the intrinsic value of other individuals as unique persons with unique viewpoints: however that right is abrogated when they stop granting that right to others. I feel the same way about violence: people have the right to be free from violence, but a violent person gives up that right when they take it from others themselves.
Fair enough. I'll phrase it this way.
Respect. What is respect? Where did it come from and who defines what respect is? Respect is something that is commanded in the bible - it's very clear what respect is and is not.
I find it interesting that anyone can take one thing they like from any belief system and use it as a their standard for how they judge people. Yet, they only take the things aspects they like and discard the rest.
Granted, there are many examples of Christians not being respectful - the first one that comes to mind is the Westboro Baptist Church - these guys do not have a biblical understanding of grace or the work of Christ.
Not everyone is perfect in their belief - Christ came to fulfill the law. It is through his obedience alone that we have any claim to heaven. Is that an exclusive claim? Yes.
I am not a Christian and my viewpoint does not come from the bible. My viewpoint comes from my humanity and personal experiences.
Interesting stuff.
I really don't like to hold a group of people to anything. I try to keep my judging and intolerance on an individual basis -- mob mentality really does a lot in changing people from what they may normally believe/do/think.
My way of thinking: find the faults in the beliefs, not in the people that believe them. Brainwashing is much too easy, and people are vulnerable. It's best not to judge anyone until you know why they are there or how much of an asshole they are individually.
I agree with this viewpoint about the issue. Individuals are individually responsible for their words and actions. Doctrines/beliefs should also be confronted when they fall short.
Intolerance towards those who are intolerant propagates intolerance... it seems people are the problem.
This is the argument I learned when studying Apologetics as well. Again I point to my definition of a right: One has a right only as long as one respects that right for others. If you deny it to others you lose that right: the right still exists and others still have it.
Intolerance is counter to core of most religions I know of....it is the imbalanced human ego and a disconnected sense of self that is the real culprit. Always has been. If you want to rail against something, that's a really good place to start (and in my case I can start with me).
As for the intolerance seen in some christian churches...historically speaking some of these are barely christian at all in the fullest historical sense. Adherance to a code in a book, or set of laws, each understood at only a findamental level, has obscured the larger realities of the faith to which they profess to adhere. This is a HUGE issue for our time. Seriously, if you know any christians, encourage them to engage more fully in the deeper content of their faith...it's there. Actually, this probably applies to all religions. No one can progress far in the spiritual life without addressing the essential diversity that exists in the cosmos. To disregard this is an illusion.
I agree with the idea of understanding intolerance rather than becoming intolerant of intolerance (a brilliant twist of words). Often fear is what drives people....fear of losing the staus quo, fear of not being first, fear of dealing with mystery, of being lost....so many fears. These things can be masked in religion/God or even in a higher good...but that, too, would be an illusion. Generally, as I said, it's a disconnected sense of self that is at work....not God or even religion. I think if we grasp that then things become a bit more clear.
I agree with prevention and education as well. However, once an individual is an adult they still have responsibility. To use an over-the-top metaphor: While I agree that wife beating is best stopped though education and prevention, wife beaters still must be confronted and held accountable for their actions.
Based on God's revelation (the Bible), all people are doomed and destined for hell because all are sinful. It is only because of the life and work of Christ that we receive the gift of faith and have any hope of not going to hell.
It's kinda funny, isn't it? It doesn't really sound fair. Yet, if you want fair, the world should have ended when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden. Right then, game over. Hell for everyone.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us made us alive in Christ. This passage from Ephesians 2 changed my life and my views on the sovereignty of God.
I encourage anyone who has questions about the sovereignty of God to give this chapter a read.
This is a core Doctrine that I have issues with. Let's see, an innocent woman with no understanding of good and evil is tricked by God's Right Hand into disobeying, and through this all children for eternity get punished forever. Unless they are Christian. Now if I can see that a child should not be punished for the sins of the father, why can God not? And if in my adult understanding I can forgive a child for not understanding as I do without a tricky litmus test, why can God not? I do not accept this view.
I tolerate intolerance, as well as the people involved in both.
While I agree with the feeling here towards people, without taking some kind of stand you become a passive accessory to the spread of various intolerant viewpoints.