Tolerance

[michel]

I dont feel there is any real antipathy towards Christians in the UK, it is just total disinterest.
Mostly people don't give a monkeys what others believe unless it is shoved up their noses.

Terry
__________________________________
Amen! Truly I say to you: Gather in my name. I am with you.-

I am glad to hear that, Terry, Fluffy seems to be aware of lack of tollence - and I was beginning to feel that maybe I was out of touch...............

 

[Fluffy]

I am glad to hear that, Terry, Fluffy seems to be aware of lack of tollence - and I was beginning to feel that maybe I was out of touch...............

http://www.religioustolerance.org/negative.htm

Modern religious intolerance. It is unfortunately more widespread than most people think. However, for more proof, ask any kid who goes to a school which is not faith based and ask him how open he is about his religious beliefs.

 

[michel]

http://www.religioustolerance.org/negative.htm

Modern religious intolerance. It is unfortunately more widespread than most people think. However, for more proof, ask any kid who goes to a school which is not faith based and ask him how open he is about his religious beliefs.

I have done - my two sons, and all their friends - at three schools local to our home.

 

[turk179]

I feel that tolerance is increasing for all religions in general but I do think it varies from location to location. In one of the more repressed areas of West Virginia where I did spend a small part of my life, if a Buddhist were to walk down a country road, tolerance for his faith would not be very high. In the part of Florida where I live now, tolerance for Wicca was at an all time low. I will post links below to some of the more interesting battles between select Christian churches and local Wiccans. Things have improved here but like I said before, I think it varies.

http://www.cog.org/national/pr_palmbay.html

http://www.forerunner.com/champion/X0039_Child_Sacrifice_in_t.html

 

[Draka]

I feel that tolerance is increasing for all religions in general but I do think it varies from location to location. In one of the more repressed areas of West Virginia where I did spend a small part of my life, if a Buddhist were to walk down a country road, tolerance for his faith would not be very high. In the part of Florida where I live now, tolerance for Wicca was at an all time low. I will post links below to some of the more interesting battles between select Christian churches and local Wiccans. Things have improved here but like I said before, I think it varies.

http://www.cog.org/national/pr_palmbay.html

http://www.forerunner.com/champion/X0039_Child_Sacrifice_in_t.html

Well, I guess it's good that you won't be staying in Florida very much longer then Turk.

Where I live no one much has a problem with Wicca. Although I live in an area surrounded and inundated with churches I find most people either don't say anything about it to me and don't seem bothered by seeing my pentacle (which I openly wear when not at work) or they approach me with honest interest and eagerness to learn about my religion. As a matter of fact, most that ask me about it think it is pretty cool and makes sense. My own mother seems to think that it is pretty neat that her daughter is a witch and has even asked me for tarot readings and such. Since she has shown an interest, I have even given her some books on Wicca, magic, palmistry, and a tarot deck and book for it. This way she can learn more about my beliefs and she can also persue the art of divination which she has always been interested in and dabbled in. I am lucky to be blessed with such a mother with such an open and loving mind in that way.

There are Buddists, Muslims, Ba'hai, Wiccans, and Satanists in my community and you never see much about intolerance towards any of them. There will always be one person that will try to convert you here or there, but that is very rare. Maybe I am just lucky I live where I live.

 

[michel]

Turk;


I just saw your statement ......." In one of the more repressed areas of West Virginia where I did spend a small part of my life, if a Buddhist were to walk down a country road, tolerance for his faith would not be very high.".................

Do you think there is any connection - ie does religious intollerance seem to be more prevalent in poorer areas ? - it would be interesting as an Idea to investigate - might explain why there seem to be a difference in just certain areas of Enland....ie Fluffy finds there is intollerance, but neither do Terry or I ......

 

[turk179]

Turk;


I just saw your statement ......." In one of the more repressed areas of West Virginia where I did spend a small part of my life, if a Buddhist were to walk down a country road, tolerance for his faith would not be very high.".................

Do you think there is any connection - ie does religious intollerance seem to be more prevalent in poorer areas ? - it would be interesting as an Idea to investigate - might explain why there seem to be a difference in just certain areas of Enland....ie Fluffy finds there is intollerance, but neither do Terry or I ......

I think that might explain part of it but only where education comes into play. Maybe it is possible that because poorer areas are shut off more from economically secure areas that they don't get to see differences in society as fast as other parts. Interesting question though. Would be very interested in some research in that area.

 

[michel]

I think that might explain part of it but only where education comes into play. Maybe it is possible that because poorer areas are shut off more from economically secure areas that they don't get to see differences in society as fast as other parts. Interesting question though. Would be very interested in some research in that area.

Ah, and maybe poorer areas have less amenities for education........that could also follow.

 

[Engyo]

I think it would be very interesting to find out the correlations between the amount of intolerance shown to members of a given religious denomintion, and the amount of intolerance shown by the members of that same denomination towards others. There might be some startling parallels; then again, maybe not.

 

[DreamQuickBook]

Ah, and maybe poorer areas have less amenities for education........that could also follow.

I find that poorer areas have more tolerance for pagan religions which are tied more deeply to the land and to superstition. Wealthier places are more skeptical and elitist. Voodoo, for example, is widely accepted in some of the poorest places in the world.

 

[turk179]

Well, I guess it's good that you won't be staying in Florida very much longer then Turk.

Where I live no one much has a problem with Wicca.

Thats good to know for travelling purposes Draka .:woohoo:

 

[jonny]

I read this article in the LA Times after reading through these posts and thought it was relevant to the discussion. It is an interesting articles about tolerance and mentions at the end of the article that 75% of Americans believe that many religions can lead to eternal life.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-op-faith7aug07,0,5557140.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions

 

[johnnys4life]

What I find exasperating is the intolerance of Christian denominations to OTHER Christian denominations. Seems everyone is an expert at pointing out heretics.

 

[Green Gaia]

What I find exasperating is the intolerance of Christian denominations to OTHER Christian denominations. Seems everyone is an expert at pointing out heretics.

That's one thing we can agree on.

 

[Scuba Pete]

Actually,

I am seeing just the opposite. At the Jambo this past week, denominationalism was way downplayed and acceptance was the highlight. Even among some who seem to be the least tolerant, I saw real glimmers of acceptance.

 

[michel]

What I find exasperating is the intolerance of Christian denominations to OTHER Christian denominations. Seems everyone is an expert at pointing out heretics.

I guess I am lucky, I don't believe what others think or believe in is any of my business - just what I believe, for me, is good enough. If someone chooses to 'want in' on that, I would be delighted - but it is entirely for them to want to.

 

[Natas]

"To say that Christian fundamentalist textbooks portray Roman Catholicism and non-Western religions in a negative way is to understate the case by several orders of magnitude. All the texts are imbued with an arrogance and hostility toward non-Western religions that is truly breathtaking.

This animus toward other religions is intimately tied to the theological roots of fundamentalist Christian perspectives. As researchers Gaddy, Hall, and Maranzo have noted, because Christian fundamentalists believe that truth can only be found in “God's infallible, literal Word revealed in the Bible, religious tolerance toward others with different values and different world views must be rejected.” arrogant attitude toward other religions.

 

[Scuba Pete]

Great Natas...

could you cite some of these "Christian Fundamentalist Textbooks" so we can see this "negative way"??? I am truly curious.

 

[Natas]

Great Natas...

could you cite some of these "Christian Fundamentalist Textbooks" so we can see this "negative way"??? I am truly curious.

Here's just one example for our Catholic friends ---


"Anti-Catholic bias is most prevalent in books published by A Beka. One particularly striking aspect of the texts is the sense that theological battles of the Protestant Reformation continue unabated to the present day. In the texts, bias against Roman Catholics and the Catholic Church is exclusively theological rather than socio-cultural."

"Descriptions of contemporary life in European countries that are primarily Roman Catholic frequently include derogatory statements about the Church: “Almost all the children of [the Republic of] Ireland grow up believing in the traditions of the Roman Catholic church without knowing of God's free salvation.”

"A Beka's seventh grade world history book, for example, describes the early Roman church (before 500 A.D.) as “a monstrous distortion of Biblical Christianity.” 29 Speaking of the Crusades, the text speculates that “if Christendom had succeeded with its crusades, distorted Christianity might have been imposed on all mankind.” 30 In the chapter titled “The Age of Darkness,” which is subtitled “Distorted Christianity, Holy Roman Empire, Renaissance,” the author writes, “The papacy had always distorted Christianity. …”

"In all, the seventh grade book uses the term “distorted” or its variants 28 times in the six chapters in which its discussions of the Roman Catholic faith are most concentrated."

"Tenth graders using A Beka books are taught that “the doctrines and practices of the Roman church had digressed so far from Scripture that the church was compelled to keep its members from reading the Bible and discovering the truth.” Source

There are, of course, examples of bias against other religions also from this source.

 

[Scuba Pete]

So,

we have determined that A Beka (whoever that is) has a less than flowery perception of the RC church. Can we have descriptions of what the RC's texts say? AND, what variant of Christianity does A Beka purport to write for? The man might be a skin head for all we know, and that would not make his texts very representative of "other" faiths. IOW, let's see just how wide this brush should be!

BTW, I share at least their opinion of the Crusades. Could you imagine living under that kind of Christianity? Truly barbaric and had little to do with "Loving your neighbor", unless of course, you had his head on a pike.