My Position on "Religious Tolerance"

[Midwest_Doc]

1. I refuse to acknowledge any mythology as real.
2. I cannot respect those who place loyalty to an imaginary friend above loyalty to real human beings.
3. Given #1 and #2, how is it possible for me to "tolerate" any religion?

[Warpy]

1. I'll tolerate anybody who tries to tolerate me

and notice I didn't stipulate success in the matter.

Seriously, I don't have a problem with anyone unless he's trying to shove a bible (or Koran or other bit of superstitious nonsense) down my throat. I'm perfectly happy if they flick their Bic and worship the flame. I really don't care, as long as they realize it ends at the surface of their skin, not under mine.

[Midwest_Doc]

2. Well Put

Thanks for your perspective. Perhaps I need to "lighten up" a bit.

[NMMNG]

3. I'm all for tolerance

As long as people don't try to force their religion down my throat, wheedle it into the state/national laws or state/national Constitutions. I'm fine with religon as long as people don't use it as a tool of opression and control.

Otherwise, I'm all for backlash.

[DavidDvorkin]

4. I tolerate religions based on principle

The general principle that, in a free country, people must be allowed to be as absurd as they want to, as long as they don't harm others. That doesn't include evangelizing, which I find intolerable.

On a purely emotional level, I'd love to stamp all religion out of existence.

[ozone_man]

10. Evangelizing is where I draw the line also.

But that is often considered part of being a Christian, i.e., spreading the good word. Personally, I see religion as a form of mental illness, but as long as they aren't dangerous and aren't evangelizing, I'm pretty tolerant. I don't live in an area that has many religious types, so it's not something that I have to deal with very often. But I imagine in some areas of the U.S. it could be difficult.

[onager]

5. Interesting experience yesterday...

As posted elsewhere, I'm still in Alexandria, Egypt and spent yesterday (Thanksgiving!) exploring historical sites.

My guide was an incredibly smart, well-educated quadri-lingual Muslim woman. (Arabic, English, French, Russian. She's studying Greek now.) Though it was a warm day, she wore a heavy black coat buttoned up to the top, black pinstriped pants, and her head-covering.

And in a real surprise, given this culture, she is unmarried and has no children. From some of her remarks, I'd say she is in her early 30's.

When we went to lunch, she told me she was fasting for the day and would not be having anything.

At one point we started discussing religion. I asked her: "Do you think you can be a good person and have no religion at all?"

She looked sort of surprised and said: "Yes. Of course you can. Religion has been used as an excuse for all kinds of awful things."

That made me feel better. I never did get around to using the A-word, but did tell her that I didn't really have any religion at all myself.

What really made me feel good was her story about the 1,000 Americans she worked with last week, off of a Mediterranean cruise ship. They all started up a chant of "We hate Bush!"

[immoderate]

6. People can believe whatever they want.

And they will.

I don't react unless it lands on my toes, or if I see it as generally detrimental. Silly to argue about everything that seems irrational. That work would never be done.

--IMM

[funflower]

7. It must be lonely there in the Midwest, Doc.

"Tolerate" doesn't mean you agree with someone or respect their beliefs. It means you choose to overlook that stuff, safe in the knowledge that they are almost certainly overlooking something objectionable about you.

[Midwest_Doc]

8. To the Contrary ...

I am serene, knowing I try to be honest. I strive toward a life free of hypocrisy ... and openly share my views with more like-minded people than you would expect.

My definition of "religious tolerance" is somewhat less sanguine than yours. I, unlike you, will not "overlook stuff" that has brought so much hate, death, and misery to the human race.

But, thank you for your kind concern.

[funflower]

11. You are probably more serene than I am, although I don't see myself as

a hypocrite as much as I see myself as powerless to change other people. This probably stems from an evangelical upbringing wherein I was constantly watching fruitless attempts to "win" people to the "truth." It just makes me tired, so I generally keep quiet around people who I perceive "can't handle the truth."

Good to hear there are a few freethinkers in Kansas or wherever in the midwest you live.

[leftofthedial]

9. I do not feel compelled to tolerate any other organized crime syndicates,

major con games, or other epidemics of mental illness

so why should I tolerate religion?