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Author Topic:   Religious Intolerance
Heart--Shaped Cross
Knowflake

Posts: 303
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Registered: Nov 2010

posted April 24, 2013 04:25 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Heart--Shaped Cross     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote

Religious intolerance is a tricky thing.

It's not always easy to be tolerant of the religion of others, or of religion in general. Whether we identify with a particular faith tradition or with none at all, we can still get caught up in the trap of religious intolerance.

The results can be tragically ironic.

Often, we make the mistake of becoming intolerant of certain religions, or of religion in general, for the very reason that those who practice them are (in our estimation) intolerant. Likewise, we may persecute people only because we expect them to persecute us. We imagine ourselves the defenders of liberty while attacking the liberty of others. We ridicule the spiritual condition of those from whom we expect to receive ridicule.

Religion has no monopoly on fanaticism.

One can become fanatical in defense of any ideology. Religious fanatics tend to paint with one brush everyone who thinks differently from themselves. But, then, so do other kinds of fanatics. Many atheists and so-called spiritual people agree on nothing except their mutual intolerance for religion. Many of them refuse to see anything good about religion, or to see it in another way, because, they say, religious people are blind to the good in them, and refuse to see them in another way.

Again, the irony is almost frightening.

It is frightening when people judge in the name of Christ, who said, "Judge not," and when they kill to promote commandments like "Thou shalt not kill." But it is no less frightening, no less blind and absurd, when people preach against preaching, and promote intolerance in the name of tolerance. It is not difficult to see how vast numbers of people can be led astray, and led to believe that they are defending a noble cause, while laying waste to monuments of goodness, charity, and love. After all, who among us is without fault?

It doesn't matter who started it.

The real question is:
Who is going to let it go?

Who is going to set the example for
tolerance, acceptance, and understanding?


Religion And Science

The most praiseworthy things can be distorted to serve the most horrific, deplorable ends. This is as true of science as it is of religion. Science is indeed a noble enterprise, but the men and women who practice it are not always so noble. We can excuse science for the flaws of pseudo-scientists, if we know the good it is capable of when practiced according to its highest principles. Likewise, we can excuse religion for the flaws of dogmatists, if we know the good religion is capable of when practiced according to its highest principles. We may even come to reflect that the blindspots which are common to the practice of science are generally apparent to the practice of religion, and vice versa. The marriage of these two may truly be a match "made in heaven". They may, in fact, be two halves of a single whole. As it is, they are the oddest of odd couples.

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Vision without action is a dream.
Action without vision is a nightmare.
~ Japanese Proverb

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doommlord
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From: israel
Registered: Dec 2011

posted April 25, 2013 11:30 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for doommlord     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I hope that does not refer to me. XD

Interesting to see what will happen if science and religion stand united....a strong assistance for humanity....or maybe dogmatic psudo-science

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juniperb
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From: Blue Star Kachina
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posted April 25, 2013 11:34 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for juniperb     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Mary Summer Rain summed it up quite nicely . She said when religion and science marry, the Age of Aquarius and tolerance will begin...

Until then, we must seek the higher good of both and work from there?

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doommlord
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From: israel
Registered: Dec 2011

posted April 25, 2013 11:41 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for doommlord     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by juniperb:
Mary Summer Rain summed it up quite nicely . She said when religion and science marry, the Age of Aquarius and tolerance will begin...

Until then, we must seek the higher good of both and work from there?


I agree we must seek the highest of both no matter what but one could wonder hows the combination of such forces might do great damage as they can do great good. (As in all things)

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Ami Anne
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From: Pluto/house next to NickiG
Registered: Sep 2010

posted April 25, 2013 11:41 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ami Anne     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
You just have to do your own thing, be true to God and yourself and let the rest go! xx

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Passion, Lust, Desire. Check out my journal


http://www.mychristianpsychic.com/

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juniperb
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From: Blue Star Kachina
Registered: Apr 2009

posted April 25, 2013 12:10 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for juniperb     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by doommlord:
I agree we must seek the highest of both no matter what but one could wonder hows the combination of such forces might do great damage as they can do great good. (As in all things)

Indeed. First do no harm....

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We need to listen to our own song, and share it with others, but not force it on them. Our songs are different. They should be in harmony with each other. ~ Mattie Stepanek

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Heart--Shaped Cross
Knowflake

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Registered: Nov 2010

posted April 26, 2013 01:35 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Heart--Shaped Cross     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
doommlord makes a good point, that attempting to combine these two could result in either harmony or further discord. In any case, I'm not sure I see a point in setting up chair against chair. Perhaps science has its own jurisdiction, which denotes a concern for objective verification, while religion occupies an entirely different sphere, concerned with personal or subjective verification. Should they be brought into total agreement, should they agree to disagree, or should they agree to contain themselves within completely different fields? Also, is it possible to erect a bridge, or a door, between them, while maintaining their independent integrity? It's a worthy subject for discussion.

Of course, we might still have to distinguish between effective and ineffective science; that is, between science and pseudo-science. Likewise, effective and ineffective religion -- though, as suggested above, this may be a more personal distinction. A devil is a god outgrown.

"Hermeticism -- in its life and soul -- is the millenial-old current in human history of knowledge for the sake of the glory of God, whilst the corpus of today's official sciences is due either to utility or to the desire for knowledge for the sake of knowledge (curiosity)... The fact that true scientists are as rare as saints in the Church does not at all alter the fact that it is they who represent science."
~ Valentin Tomberg

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Well said, Ami.

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