is religon-bashing ok, and if yes, when?

googlemagoogle

today i read "doubtfully your's" comment on wiccans and i was shocked. i wanted to reply immediately about tolerance and to respect another religion.

then i thought about him having a sister, smoking pot and presenting herself as pagan giving him some bad impression (prejudice?) about wiccans. in his experience the wiccan belief is BS and he doesn't care sharing this experience publicly.

i also thought that many (actually most) on this board wouldn't mind bashing the JW religion. i don't mind either. but i always have been very careful (tolerant in my view) when talking about other religions like islam, buddhism, satanism, hinduism, catholicism, wicca or the jewish religion. now i wonder why i don't apply the same standard on JWism.

what do you think, is it ok to NOT respect a religion? [WT-MODE]please back up your response[/WT-MODE]

diamondblue1974

In all honesty it isnt fair to bash a religion you know nothing about nor understand and tolerance of others irrespective as to their beliefs is to be encouraged however a great deal of us on this site have been hurt, abused and lied to by the WTS and share similar experiences.

This being so whilst we dont 'bash' anyone that is currently still a JW merely for being so, we do openly criticise the belief system and the organisation because of its past and continuing failures to do as it purports. When a person on this site who is still a JW openly 'bashes' apostate thinking or should i say independent thinking then they are likely to receive a barrage of information which disputes and challenges those points not because they are JWs but because they have the audacity to challenge viewpoints without researching their information beforehand. It might also be pointed out to them (hopefully politely) that they are not approaching the subject in the most intelligent of manner.

Naturally people might criticise other religions and they are entitled to do so providing they are reasonably informed and do not do so in ignorance...theres nothing wrong with healthy debate...religion bashing per se is however wrong.

DB

googlemagoogle

but where do you draw the line? there are things you wouldn't say about jews to not be viewed as antisemite. do the same taboos apply to other religions? JWism for instance?

Pleasuredome

there are things you wouldn't say about jews to not be viewed as antisemite. do the same taboos apply to other religions? JWism for instance?

let me know what that is you cant say, and then we can discuss whether these 'taboos' can apply to other religions. i am presuming you're refering to critism of a religion and not an ethnic group?

cyborgVision

If it wasn't for criticism and critical thinking about religion we'd still have some form of inquisition today. If we are critical of politicians and governments why would we be any more lenient when it comes to religious institutions?
Having said that, I agree we should be respectful of other people beliefs whatever they are. One needs to make clear distinction between critical thinking about religion and criticizing beliefs for sole purpose of hurting someone. That's not cool.

El blanko

For me, I like to examine a person based around their ethics, rather than their religion.

I think most humans can agree upon a common code of behaviour to ensure our collective rights, aside from the clearly psychotic

So, before learning why a man decides to follow Kabbalah, for instance, I view that person as a fellow human and see where our minds meet before senseless "bashing" of his ideas.

Religion as an abstract concept is fair game though and deserves scrutiny.

Afterall, religion ticks at the heart of many societies that have persecuted their neighbours " in the name of ".

Crumpet

I disrespect all religions equally.

Honesty

The WTBTS bashes itself with the literature it has published. Most of the 'JW bashing' is done by quoting the specific WT or other publications that condemn the very things they are doing.

diamondblue1974

but where do you draw the line? there are things you wouldn't say about jews to not be viewed as antisemite. do the same taboos apply to other religions? JWism for instance?

If I was in a debate about judaism then there might be no limit as to my criticism but that wouldnt be antisemitic.

Antisemitic comments are not on the basis of religion these are race or ethnic origin based and another subject for another thread; personally as someone else said I have little time or respect for all religion but that doesnt mean that I would disrespect someone who does.

Debate= Good

Bashing= Bad

rebel8

Debate= Good
Bashing= Bad

I'm totally in agreement with that. To add:

debate (good) = utilizing critical thinking and proven facts to evaluate a religion, and perhaps arriving at a negative conclusion about it based upon that process

bashing (bad) = reacting negatively to a religion based upon assumptions, false teachings, prejudice, and emotions (example: negative feelings about religions arise from a combination of negative experiences with JWs and anti-religious tolerance learned when being a JW...this creates a skewed "filter" through which an ex-JW views other religions as destructive, evil, secretive, something to be feared, threatening, etc...all information about other religions is filtered so that positive/neutral information is rejected and negative information is accepted and exaggerated...)

is religon-bashing ok, and if yes, when?

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