Religious Tolerance

by WTWizard 2 Replies latest watchtower bible

  • WTWizard
    WTWizard

    Religion. We all have some idea of it. Some profess no religion. Others have a denomination of Christian, Jewish, Islam, or Far Eastern religion that they belong to. Still others are looking, or are uncertain, or have their own private religion that they believe in.

    Personally, I prefer a religiously neutral environment. And I value this forum for its religious neutrality (I have seen other forums that have a definite Christian bias, and bashing the Bible itself as I have seen done here and done myself would not be acceptable). That gives me the freedom to interpret Jesus' message as I see fit, even if the world at large does not agree. Even if I find the common denominator between Jesus and Satan that the Washtowel Slaveholdery does not.

    Since there are many different religions, and Catholics are no more evil than Protestants, I believe in free discussion between all. Even though I am neutral, there are good reasons why people join another church. One of them is that they read the Bible and realize that Jesus is talking to them (even if they do not have the absolutely correct interpretation). Others include social connections and activities. There might be some benefit to joining a church that you do not believe in, even if you never believe in it. For instance, if one such church provides a marriage partner, you might have incentive to study that religion and join, even if you do not believe in it (and do so honestly, so you can answer questions that even the leaders cannot and make sense).

    In fact, the main thing I find wrong with Jehovah's Witlesses is, not what they believe, but that they do not allow any sort of religious neutrality. If you are in a relationship with one, you will be hounded perennially to go to boasting sessions and out in field circus. If one is at work, there is a good chance that you will find yourself being preached to perennially. As I have seen, none of the other religions that are common do that (I have seen many workers that are Catholics and I would never notice).

    My ideal is to stay out of religion, except to analyze it and critique it. But I believe that people should be free to believe whatever they want, right or wrong. Furthermore, they should be free to change their beliefs if at any time they see something wrong with their religion. They should be free to rationally debate and discuss their religion with people that have different religious beliefs, but not be forced to push their religion on others or to join another's religion. And, as I see it, I believe that morals (and the teachings of Jesus) can be simplified--however, people are blinded by religion so they cannot see it when it is pointed out.

    And, I believe in using independent sources to verify the accuracy of the Bible, its teaching, or doctrine.

  • snowbird
    snowbird

    My ideal is to stay out of religion, except to analyze it and critique it. But I believe that people should be free to believe whatever they want, right or wrong. Furthermore, they should be free to change their beliefs if at any time they see something wrong with their religion. They should be free to rationally debate and discuss their religion with people that have different religious beliefs, but not be forced to push their religion on others or to join another's religion. And, as I see it, I believe that morals (and the teachings of Jesus) can be simplified--however, people are blinded by religion so they cannot see it when it is pointed out.

    And, I believe in using independent sources to verify the accuracy of the Bible, its teaching, or doctrine.

    Well said, WTW. I've taken the liberty of highlighting a particularly salient point

    Sylvia

  • trevor
    trevor

    WTwizard

    This in an interesting and apt post. Among other things you say:

    They should be free to rationally debate and discuss their religion with people that have different religious beliefs,

    I agree with this. The difficulty is that all religions are based on faith. Faith cannot be debated rationally because it not based on evidence but on belief. If it is Christianity that is being debated, in order to find something tangible to analise most discussion end up examining the Bible, .

    As soon as the bible is shown to be unreliable and contradictory many of the Christian persuasion then claim that the Bible is not to be taken literally and it is not necessary to believe it to be a Christian. Or if passages portraying God as a violent despot are quoted, they dismiss those inconvenient passages and say all you need is Faith. Or love if you believe 'the Beatles.'

    So we come back to this slippery emotion called faith that is based on nothing but a warm feeling and - well - Faith!

    Anyone who needs a little more to go on is attacked for lacking Faith and accused of having no morals. Even those like myself who admit that they honestly don't know what God is or much about him/her/it are dismissed as 'lukewarm' or uneducated.

    In the end it leaves little left to discuss rationally. So it is back to Bible bashing and pointing out contradictions in peoples beliefs. It is a rather pointless exercise. The only entertainment value is when it gets a bit heated and the big noises kick off and and start winding each other up.

    Nothing will ever be settled because people with beliefs, believe what they need to and have not the slightest interest in truth. So whats new?

    Trevor

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