Too Many Religions, Not Enough Tolerance

They seem to be open to listening to your beliefs in their God, but when you start questioning, they close off.

Close minded.

This is usually a development of brainwashing. People can brainwash themselves.

I just read this post about Pagans, and it was completely offensive, coming from a Catholic.

Isn't it there God they quote all the time that says Only He can judge me....and yet these people think if they believe they have the right to judge everyone else. Just because you believe in God, does not mean you are a good person.

Hell...that's the fear mongering that goes along with the Republicans of our country....

I told someone how I did not believe in the Devil, and then they asked how could I not? That means I'll blame God for everything that happens in life. No, I don't blame God or the Devil for good or bad things in the world, THAT IS REAL LIFE!!!!!!

ack, I'm not yelling at you, thanks for letting me vent, and wonderful wording of your conversation, writing about these issues and not being offensive, is a hard task and I think you accomplished it beautifully.

We have this perception that religion is the one that makes a person good or kind. it is not. Being good or bad is a product of our choices. it does not guarantee that a person is good if she is a follower of a religion that teaches you to be good!

They are so insecured because so many writings from the past which proved that their religion is just a copycat from ancient beliefs. Have you watch zeitgeist movie? It is free in the you tube.

I once commented on a discussion here where the one who started it said, "thanks satan because the atheist population is growing!" They are that narrow minded! It is them who believes in satan and never the atheists. If they are objective, they should have done a research why this is happening!

I think someone should do a thesis on this - someone really should examine how the growing number of religions has lead to the situation of people having less tolerance for each other.

I also think it's really cool that you have placed this on mylot, a place where people have been free to behave as they really are. You get see people who claim to be Christians, Jews and Muslims - people who claim to have a special connection to God behaving in the most ungodly way. I don't what it is but people who claim to have a special relationship with God have a special talent of behaving in a very ungodly fashion.

But perhaps it's not just the number of religions leading to greater intolerant between people. You should also look at the various sects of the same religion being more intolerant of each other than anything else. Look at the way Catholics and Protestants have been each other's throats for much of Europeans history. Look at the way Sunni's and Shia's are busy killing each other in the Middle East.

I think it may not be so much the religion at fault here but the belief that people of that religion have the "exclusive" franchise on God. Personally, the teachings o f Christ are Godly in what they teach and I also think the Prophet Mohamed makes allot of sense.

However, both their followers have developed the idea that they and they alone have the exclusive franchise for God and the problem with thinking you have the exclusive, is the fact that you have to understand that everyone else is wrong. And there in lies the problem with too many religions - or too many exclusive franchises for God.

You have made a good point. I have tried to just discuss what I believe rather then try to convince people that my way is the only way. I know there are people in other churches who will be saved. I think churches are like soap. Look how many different soaps there are. WE all have a different need when cleaning clothes. Some clothes just need a good rinse while others like greasy oil needs a tougher soap. People choose different churches and religions because of their need and not necessarily one that follows the Bible completely. I think it is just a unpleasant characteristic of humans to want to be better than their neighbor. IT is all about keeping ahead of the Jones.

This is a tough one and I'm not sure how to answer. A lot of Christians have a massive persecution complex and it's mostly imagined. Even though Christianity makes up a HUGE portion of the world's religious base and the Catholic church has enjoyed enormous power through the ages, and that the United States government is filled with right-wing fundamentalists, (and the evangelical Christianity that is practiced there is not practiced anywhere else--that's what you get for having a country founded by Puritans) they believe that there's some other entity or religion trying to bring them down. It's fear, plain and simple, that something different might come along and threaten their way of life. Fear always leads to hatred. We've seen that throughout history.

Religion, by its very definition is intolerant, I suppose. A religion cannot claim that their God is the one true God and be tolerant that there are other gods out there being worshiped. There may be tolerant people within it, but tolerance does not stem from fundamentalism. These people follow blindly like sheep and do not question what they're told. Religion without reason and thought leads to fanaticism, and fanatics have no use for anyone who doesn't believe what they believe.

I consider myself to be Christian but my brand of Christianity is far removed from the bible-thumping different-hating insecure fire-and-brimstone eternal damnation....crap...that is taught in a lot of churches today. And I get annoyed when people like that get in my face. I don't worship the bible. I don't have much use for it, as a matter of fact. I pay attention to Jesus and the life lessons he had to impart, and a very big part of what he had to say was simply, love one another. Love each other, and accept each other. Don't judge because you're not perfect either. Strive to bring peace to the world around you. Everyone out there are your brothers and sisters, and treat them like family. A lot of Christians have gotten away from that message, and maybe that's why they have so much to fear.

This post contains content of a mature nature. You must be Signed in or Registered to have the option to view this content.

I agree with you. I have noticed that those that follow catholisism are some of the most intollerant people that I have ever run in to. From what I can tell from speaking to some of them they believe that what they believe is the only thing that could possibly be right and if you aren't catholic then you are damned to an eternity of fire and brimstone. What I think is really funny about the catholic religion is that they think that you can go out, do whatever the heck you want then as long as you go and confess what you have just done and then say a few "hail marys" that all is good and you can go back out and do the exact thing over and over again. What astounds me is that the book that they say is absolutely correct and true and they believe completely in (by the way.... the way it is currently translated it cannot be completely true, 'cause it contradicts itself I am sure that in the original language it didn't but the way that it is currently translated it does.) says that when you repent you are supposed to make a commitment to God to attempt NOT to commit the sin again. That is not how the catholics make their belief system work. Which leads me to ask... how can they claim that they believe in the bible when they seem to shun one of its principle teachings.

It's just a matter of acceptance and respect. The acceptance that everyone is entitled to follow what they believe in and respect by at least giving way to their beliefs and not discriminate or take offense on anything. I agree with you. Who knows how the world came upon? There must have been a source somewhere. Nobody knows. There's where belief and faith comes in. We may be different in beliefs but we are definitely similar about something, we all believe.

I honestly don't have a very accurate guess, at least, why there is such less tolerance on different religions. It could just be the sheer number of religions and lack of knowledge that makes them react immediately since they don't understand it or the concept is new to them. It's probably the confusion that ignites the conflict. The bottom line is, people have different beliefs, people have different preference, and if there are people who are different/unique, just let them be. We have no right to judge them based on belief or almost anything else for that matter. If only everyone could give each other space. Sadly, there will always be at least someone who won't.

Forgive them Myklj for the know not what they do. The real issue is that having said how my faith guides me I then cannot grasp that maybe yours guides you just as effectively. Even being an atheist doesn't mean you don't have faith in at least yourself.

Hi myklj999, As you say, all Christians are not like this, and we have to make that point very clear. There are also some Muslims here who are not tolerant of others, although I've also discovered that is not true of all Muslims either. Most people in the Americas were raised in the Christian tradition or at least surrounded by it, and in a lot of cases don't know enough about other traditions to judge them. Like you I could never be an Atheist, although I have no problem with those who chose that way, I feel that there has to be something more than we see here. Before judging anyone, I think we have to look at their upbringing and lets face it, many have been taught to be intolerant, even by sometimes well meaning parents. Those who are convinced that their way is the only way feel an obligation to teach their children what they believe is the truth. This holds true if one is a fundamentalist Christian, a Mormon, a Jehovah's Witness, or one of a hundred other smaller groups. This same people have been told that they must tell others of this truth and that it is of the utmost importance. The problem for all of them is the same, they have no proof other than to quote the Bible, which is pointless to someone who doesn't believe it. We all get upset sometimes when others don't see things our way, we get frustrated and say things things that would be better left unsaid, this I think is what happens with these Christians and others who resort to name calling. Blessings.