Comment about religion and the founding fathers that I heard.

[AndyA]

I overheard two people discussing the gay marriage "issues" and one of them was very obviously a conservative, who commented that she had gay friends, and loved them, but her religious beliefs just wouldn't permit her to approve of them getting married.

The other girl asked her why she felt her particular religious beliefs should be forced on others.

The conservative girl responded that she believed in The Bible, which was the basis for many religions.

The other girl said, "yes, but it's not the basis for EVERY religion. What makes YOUR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS CORRECT FOR EVERYONE ELSE?"

The conservative girl said that most people in America were Christians, and that the majority rules.

To which the other girl responded, "we are a nation of laws, governed by the constitution and the bill of rights. Those rule above all else, and they address the separation of church and state for a reason."

The response was, "the founding fathers hated religion."

To which the other girl said, "the founding fathers didn't hate religion, they hated religious coercion. They didn't give us freedom of religion so much as they gave us freedom from religion."

We went separate ways at that point, but I thought their conversation was interesting, and I can identify with the girl trying to untangle the twisted mind of her "conservative" friend. :eyes:

[Qutzupalotl]

1. Tangled indeed.

A "Christian nation" founded by people who hated religion?
:crazy:

[SheilaT]

2. Interesting.

The other part that most "Christians" don't fully get when they're saying things like the religious girl was saying, is that there are many differences between the many Christian sects, usually based on their translation or interpretation of the Bible.

Whenever anyone suggests we need to post the Ten Commandments in public places, I always ask, Which version? I was raised Catholic and we had a slightly different version than Protestants have.

[mnhtnbb]

3. The biggest problem with many religions (especially right wing Christian)

is that believers are not taught to critically examine their beliefs. Far too many Christians
are unwilling to think for themselves.

[Bill McBlueState]

4. "she believed in The Bible, which was the basis for many religions"

Weird. It's only the basis for Christianity, and there's not even uniformity among the Christian sects as to which books should be in the Bible.

(The fact that certain parts of the Christian Bible are sacred to Jews does not make the Christian Bible the basis for Judaism.)

[Richard D]

5. Which parts of the Christian Bible . . .

. . . are sacred to Jews? I think it's the other way around.

[Bill McBlueState]

6. "the other way around" would be the same thing

The point is that there's overlap between the Christian holy stuff and the Jewish holy stuff.

[Richard D]

7. Very different.

The Jewish "bible" is known as The Old Testament. It's sacred to most Christians, though not followed. The Christian bible, aka "The New Testament" is not at all sacred to the Jewish religion. In fact, for some of the more strict sects of Judaism, it's not even supposed to be read. Christianity has it's roots in Judaism.

[Bill McBlueState]

8. no, you're making this too complicated

Logically, if part of A is in B, then (at least) part of B is in A. That's all I'm saying. I understand the relationship between Christianity and Judaism.