The Religious Tolerance Thread

[Shenron00 366]

You know, whenever I look around on the Internet, school, or anywhere else, I see a lot of intolerance when it comes to other people's religious views. Frankly, I think if there were more tolerance and less hatred, this world would be a much better place.

Anyways, this thread is dedicated to those of us who are tired of such ignorance, and want to help others learn about certain religious views and (hopefully) clear up any misunderstandings and stereotypes. What I want you to do is state your views, explain a little bit about it (a brief description will do), and try to debunk at least one misunderstanding about your religious view. I also ask that if anyone here disagrees with someone, either PM them, or keep it to yourself, because we don't want any petty flamey/passive aggressive wars here.

I'll start us off:

I am a Christian, and I believe that my duty in life is to remain loyal to my Lord and also try to be the best person I can be. I have no specific denomination.

I just want to apologize for any homophobic, dishonest, oppressive "Christians" you may come across. I assure you that our religion does NOT encourage rudeness, or threatening people with Hell...

[Bright Bastion 241]

I'd love to see this kind of thread. Living in America, Christianity is mostly the only religion that I get to hear about and off course due to the ignorance surrounding it, I really haven't been able to even learn much about that. I don't believe in religion personally, but I'm all for religious freedom. I find religions of all kinds to be incredibly interesting and important to any countries culture. I hope this thread catches some wind in it's sails!

[Knight Hadron 372]

Sooooo. I think people, mainly Christians, need to be a lot more tolerant of people who believe in evolution (catch-all term there) and atheism. Seriously. I don't blame the atheists for acting a bit hostile towards Christians, given some "christians" attitude towards them. Not that I'm grating on anybody in particular.

 

Agree?

[[NULL] 906]

As an atheist, this clip of Gary's speech pretty much sums up my opinion on religion in general.

 

 

To my shame, I once behaved like Stan did when I was a kid.

Edited April 8, 2015 by SpaceOnion

[Pineapple Bloom 511]

Nice thread... if only everyone was respectful of other people's religions, or lack thereof.

People have told myself and my Christian friends that we deserve to die horrible deaths.

I don't think anything can justify that.

[Pineapple Bloom 511]

...This is supposed to be the religious tolerance thread. I don't think people would appreicate it if I posted anti-gay comments in a gay support thread, so I don't understand why people are making negative comments about religion in this thread.

[Guest90210 3,568]

I figure I'll throw my two cents into this.

 

A couple years ago I read the Quran front to back, and studied the religion extensively. The misconceptions and general disinformation I see on Islam is pretty rampant, at least in the United States. What you may be surprised to learn is that it is actually remarkably similar to Christianity.

 

Islam was formed by Muhammad in the year 570, a poor merchant from Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Throughout his younger years he always questioned the locals religious practices. Idolatry, greed, poor treatment of the people, and other such injustices were rampant. At the age of 40, he claimed to have received a vision from the angel Gabriel, and the beginnings of Islam began to take place. Over the remaining decades of his life, he wrote the Quran and spread the religion among the arab lands.

 

While the Bible has a generally structured and thorough format (stories happen in chronological order), the Quran spreads and repeats moral messages and stories many times throughout. What you will find are stories of Moses, Abraham, Noah, David, and yes, even Jesus Christ and Mother Mary, along with other prophets, all similar to their Christian counterparts. While the details and meanings may stray in some way (for example, Adam and Eve were forgiven for their sins when they ate the apple rather than punished by God. Therefore, there is no "original sin" in Islam), the root story and characters remain. What this means is the God of the Quran is the God of Abraham - the same God of the Christians. (Also, "Allah" is just the arabic word for "God". Allah is the same exact thing as God. Even Christian arabs say "Allah".)

 

In Islam, Jesus is a prophet, a "son" of God, and the Messiah who preached God's word and spawned the Gospel. They just don't believe he is God incarnate, and they believe that the Gospels have been altered over time to stray from their "true meaning". Jesus and Mary are even mentioned more times in the Quran than the Prophet Muhammad is!

 

The basis for Islam is the Quran, and what you'll be surprised to hear is that most of the detailed tenants of modern day "Shariah Law" don't actually come from the Quran. They come from the "Hadith", which are stories of the Prophet Muhammad and his followers. The authenticity of Hadith is constantly questioned within the Muslim community, so there is some disagreement on what should be "law" or not. Things like the 5 daily prayers, the niqab (full body cover), etc are not mentioned explicitly in the Quran itself.

Edited April 6, 2015 by Rivendare

[-Nobody- 519]

>religion tolerance thread

>posts about why they hate religion

 

gg guys.

 

 

Seriously, if you want people to accept your different world views, why are you here bashing us?

[AccountNoLongerUsed 741]

>religion tolerance thread

>posts about why they hate religion

 

gg guys.

 

 

Seriously, if you want people to accept your different world views, why are you here bashing us?

I tolerate and even am close friends with many religious people. I dont tolerate "Religion" by which i mean those in power, specifically those who use that power to abuse people, eg: telling a rape victim that they were some how equally if not more so responsible for the rape as the rapist is.. Thats what I hate. And i shouldnt have to tolerate that.

Edited April 6, 2015 by Cobalt-Willow

[Shenron00 366]

I tolerate and even am close friends with many religious people. I dont tolerate "Religion" by which i mean those in power, specifically those who use that power to abuse people, eg: telling a rape victim that they were some how equally if not more so responsible for the rape as the rapist is.. Thats what I hate. And i shouldnt have to tolerate that.

Since when did a religion tell someone that the victim was as responsible as the rapist? Religion is supposed to be a good thing, and you bashing on the religion itself is almost just as ignorant as bashing on the people that partake in them. The people who abuse their power are just using religion as an excuse to to it. It's not the religion that's doing it, it's the fault of whoever is abusing it.

[CC_Maud_Pie 6,431]

I don't care about what you believe in as long as you don't force it onto others.

[AccountNoLongerUsed 741]

Note i put quotation marks, mocking the people in power who think that they, infact, THE "Religion", who think they are, even if they dont say it outright, God and they can say whatever they want because they believe they are above people and can do no wrong. Sorry if i did anything offensive. However, my first post was true, I do hate Religion, but I dont hate the Religious. Also note that while most consider Religion and Spirituality the same thing, I do not. Spirituality is what something like Christianity or Islam or whatever should be, a personal relationship with God/ Allah. Religion, however, is an institution made to control people. Thats just my opinion. If you believe differently, power to you.

So in case anyone mistakes what I say, yes, I respect and/ or tolerate your beliefs. I dont respect/ tolerate those who abuse them.

Edited April 6, 2015 by Cobalt-Willow

[SonOfTheNorthe 412]

...This is supposed to be the religious tolerance thread. I don't think people would appreicate it if I posted anti-gay comments in a gay support thread, so I don't understand why people are making negative comments about religion in this thread.

How much discussion can you have when every single person is completely agreeing with each other?

[Moved to Elsewhere 11,331]

I identify myself as either agnostic or agnostic atheist, I'm so agnostic I can't even decide which one of those I am. Needless to say, I don't hate religion as much as people on the internet seem to do.

 

They are justified in way they hate in in some cases. Maybe they grew up around the kind of religious people who aren't really nice and abuse their own beliefs.

 

Needless to say, I think people get way too angry at it. They ignore all the good things religion does like donate to charity, and the nice people in it who follow the bible rule of, "Love thy neighbor." My sister is christian and she is one of the most nice and most influential people I've ever met. Heck, most of my family is a little religious and they're pretty nice. I've seen people talk about how hateful religion is, well saying something equally as hateful about religion. Oh and don't even get me started on comments I've read that can be related to religion. I one time saw an atheist who was just spamming one of those religion sucks memes in the comment without and context other than being a dick.

 

The reason I don't go to religion is that I feel I just don't need it and never really latched onto it growing up. My father is very religious so whenever I went to his house on some weekends, we would have to go to church. I never payed attention and usually fell asleep during the service. I was more focused on getting Burger King after the service than the actual lesson. Plus, this may seem like a nitpick but I hate dressing up fancy, and churches are big on that stuff.

 

So yeah, everyone is allowed to believe in what they want and no one should make people feel guilty of that.

[Shenron00 366]

Note i put quotation marks, mocking the people in power who think that they, infact, THE "Religion", who think they are, even if they dont say it outright, God and they can say whatever they want because they believe they are above people and can do no wrong. Sorry if i did anything offensive. However, my first post was true, I do hate Religion, but I dont hate the Religious. Also note that while most consider Religion and Spirituality the same thing, I do not. Spirituality is what something like Christianity or Islam or whatever should be, a personal relationship with God/ Allah. Religion, however, is an institution made to control people. Thats just my opinion. If you believe differently, power to you.

So in case anyone mistakes what I say, yes, I respect and/ or tolerate your beliefs. I dont respect/ tolerate those who abuse them.

So, it's not the concept of religion, it's what religion has been turned into by the corrupt?

[Admiral Regulus 2,769]

I'll tolerate any religion as long as you don't bring it up around me. That's the way I feel about these things.

[AccountNoLongerUsed 741]

So, it's not the concept of religion, it's what religion has been turned into by the corrupt?

Pretty much. Also , for example, Jesus Christ greatly disproved of religion as an institution, and similarly many of the religious leaders saw him as a threat to their power, even those who claimed to believe in God

[Shenron00 366]

How much discussion can you have when every single person is completely agreeing with each other?

Well, that's not what the thread is entirely about. I started this thread so we can all help each other understand what each religion is TRULY about and respect each religious view. There's nothing wrong with having an opinion unless it blinds people from the truth, and th truth is, religion is supposed to be helpful. It's helped shape the world for years, and the only reason we even have all these wars and stuff is because some just don't take the time to learn about and respect someone's opinion.

Pretty much. Also , for example, Jesus Christ greatly disproved of religion as an institution, and similarly many of the religious leaders saw him as a threat to their power, even those who claimed to believe in God

Okay, now I understand! Don't worry everyone, there was just a misunderstanding!

[1Bit 1,531]

I think this thread is quite a nice idea =) 

 

Well when it comes to religion, I really dont know I guess. I have no beliefs and follow no religion, but I don't really think I'm an atheist, purely because I don't NOT believe there's God(s), I just don't know what to believe really =3 I guess it doesn't help that Christianity is so negatively viewed in my school as well. Most of the students there are extreme atheists =(

[yeet 2,027]

Religion is kinda bs in my opinion. But if you don't force it down my throat, go on believing what you want. I know I don't believe in a god, but you can if you want to. 

I did used to read this childrens picture bible thing when i was young though because the stories were interesting xD

[Midnight Gaze 131]

I think this thread is quite a nice idea =) 

 

Well when it comes to religion, I really dont know I guess. I have no beliefs and follow no religion, but I don't really think I'm an atheist, purely because I don't NOT believe there's God(s), I just don't know what to believe really =3 I guess it doesn't help that Christianity is so negatively viewed in my school as well. Most of the students there are extreme atheists =(

Really? Ha! Most of the people in my school seem to be religious; atheism is an anomaly.

[1Bit 1,531]

Really? Ha! Most of the people in my school seem to be religious; atheism is an anomaly.

well IRL, I know only one christian  Everyone else are atheist's

[Shanks 10,816]

I was raised Catholic Christian but grew a bit alienated from it during my teen years but later came back. I won't go into too much detail over that rather long story but what I am going to say is when I was growing up I had neighbors who were Calvinists, for those who are unfamiliar Calvinism is a theological concept in some protestant denominations that has a certain set of beliefs called the "5 points" which is explained in the link below

 

http://www.calvinistcorner.com/tulip.htm

 

These neighbors had some very strange misconceptions about Catholics that confused me as a child because I had no concept of theological differences and honestly didn't care much about that. The main one that stuck out in my mind is Catholics worship the virgin Mary and are therefore not Christians. While saint and Mary veneration can go a bit too far in certain situations it is not true. Also there are similar practices in some protestant denominations especially Luteranism and Anglicanism as well as the Eastern Orthodox Christian tradition. With that said I believe that God gave us all free will and as such everyone has a human right to freely practice their religious beliefs.

 

 

In Islam, Jesus is a prophet, a "son" of God, and the Messiah who preached God's word and spawned the Gospel. They just don't believe he is God incarnate, and they believe that the Gospels have been altered over time to stray from their "true meaning". Jesus and Mary are even mentioned more times in the Quran than the Prophet Muhammad is!

You are mostly correct with one exception being that Muslims while they see Jesus as a prophet do not see him as a messianic figure like Christians do. They the old testament prophets like Moses as well as Jesus as various people throughout history who have received direct revelations from God with Muhammad being the last in this long line of prophets. Basically the Muslim view on Jesus is very similar to the modern day Jewish views on Jesus.

 

Since it is relevant I thought I would leave the links to this documentary on Muslims here. It is a three parter which makes it more manageable but it is a couple of hours. It is about the early history of Islam.

 

https://youtu.be/yX3UHNhQ1Zk

 

https://youtu.be/X1PxJomypQE

 

https://youtu.be/iI7Qkcyz3tM

Edited April 6, 2015 by Black Adam

[Guest90210 3,568]

You are mostly correct with one exception being that Muslims while they see Jesus as a prophet do not see him as a messianic figure like Christians do.

 

Muslims don't see him as the same kind of messiah that the Christians see him as (as in, the savior of the world from its sins), but the Quran does refer to Jesus (Isa) as "The Messiah". "Messiah" is only used in the Quran to refer to Jesus specifically. What they mean by that is Jesus was the prophet who fulfilled the prophecies found in the Torah (Old Testament) that refer to a "Messiah to come". They just don't believe that Jesus was God or the one begotten "son of God".

 

"[And mention] when the angels said, "O Mary, indeed Allah gives you good tidings of a word from Him, whose name will be the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary - distinguished in this world and the Hereafter and among those brought near [to Allah]." - Quran 3:45

Edited April 6, 2015 by Rivendare

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,302]

I don't believe in god, but I do believe in Rainbow Dash.  And she helps me to believe in and better myself.

 

@Steel Accord helped me look at religion differently.  I was of the mind that it was an inherently detrimental and limiting thing, but he made me consider that fault lies less with religion itself and more with those who misuse it.