Religious Freedom

[€uroMeinke]

Originally Posted by Prudence

It's nearly, if not completely, impossible to have a reasonable discussion in such an environment. If I respond with any visible emotion whatsoever, it's proof that I've let emotion, and not reason, guide my judgment.

This is another tangent, but I fail to see why this is a problem. More often than not we use reason to rationalize what we feel in our gut in the first place. Perahps your argument would not fall into the usual if x then y ,of the socratic method, but does God and belief really follow such logic any way?

[wendybeth]

Actually, Prudence summed it up quite nicely for me. Not in the mood, Alex- my post wasn't intended to be anything other than an observation and expression of dismay at what people do in the name of religion, and it wasn't even particularily original. If you'd like to start a discourse on wherever it is you seem to be trying to lead this, then by all means go right ahead, but I am really not interested in this conversation anymore.

[Alex]

observation and expression of what? The sentence is missing a word.

And again, fair enough on not wanting to discuss it. But when you find other faithss lacking, I'll be interested in the basis by which you do that. I don't feel I'm trying to take it anywhere beyond where you took it yourself, but that's fine, I"ll drop it until the next time.

[wendybeth]

Originally Posted by Alex Stroup

observation and expression of what? The sentence is missing a word.

And again, fair enough on not wanting to discuss it. But when you find other faithss lacking, I'll be interested in the basis by which you do that. I don't feel I'm trying to take it anywhere beyond where you took it yourself, but that's fine, I"ll drop it until the next time.

Sorry- edited for clarification. I had another post, but an error 504 message kept popping up and wouldn't let me post it. I copied it and tried again, but it still wouldn't let me. For some reason, it let me post the less verbose reply above, and I took that as a sign.

[LSPoorEeyorick]

Originally Posted by Alex Stroup

But when you find other faithss lacking, I'll be interested in the basis by which you do that.

I'm pretty sure that Wendybeth was saying she found others' ACTIONS lacking, not their faith specifically. I don't believe she has a problem with others having differing dogmatic beliefs; she has a problem with their self-righteous actions in defense of their religion.

There are plenty of Catholics who don't bomb abortion clinics. There are plenty of Muslims who aren't violent. It's the extremists who bother me, because their fanaticism obscures the goodness that their religion is supposed to inspire. I suspect that this is what Wendy is talking about.

And I don't know about Wendy, but I really respect what Christ had to say (even if it's only attributable to the oral tradition.) In the Bible, much of what is said by Christ has to do with loving and forgiving others and being peaceful. Regardless of who said it, in my opinion, it's a good way to live. But then, I also like to reach out and see what others have to say about how to live. Buddhism, especially, has some great philosophies that help me day-to-day.

Why do I accept some religious philopsophies and not others? Because I have no desire to be told how to think; because I like to come to my own conclusions. I take a piece from this and a piece from that and I use what feels useful to me. Just like you do, Alex; you simply find different things useful.

[wendybeth]

Pretty much right on, LS!

I truly don't care for proselytizing, hence the utter lack of interest with engaging in any conversations regarding religion. I am still a bit taken aback by Alex's interpretation of what I said, but that's just not my problem.