Why do you guys keep mentioning God? What has Brian May got to do with this.
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coz in the end its Brians fault.its the 5 stages of Brian!
*does the sign of the pentagon and says a few hail marys to ward off the impending doom*
The Real Wizard · Member since
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[b]YourValentine wrote: [/b]
I also think that believers are convinced that God is the origin of everything that happens but that is true for many religions, not only Catholics.
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Of course. I'd be saying the same thing for any natural disaster in any part of the world where the majority of the people subscribed to a single faith. It's simply food for thought.
>I just think it's not a good time for non-believers to start a discussion about spiritual superiority.
It's not about superiority. It's about alternatives, and using one's mind to its potential. In the spirit of mutual understanding and growth as a people, is choosing a faith that our ancestors had forced upon them the best choice a 21st-century mind can make?
>In fact, I do not think that my Italian friends, who are ALL Catholics, need to improve spiritually. They do not push their faith into my face and I do not question their religion. It's a matter of mutual respect.
What kind of world would we live in if nobody challenged their fellow beings to grow? Avoiding discussion under the guise of mutual respect is exactly why I used the word "taboo" in my first post. Asking someone to even talk about their faith is still considered a taboo by most people, and I think it's a horrible loss for the human race that they feel the need to hide behind it instead of rationally discussing it with others and why it works for them, while learning about why someone else's view of the world works for them as well. It rarely happens, because 99 times out 100, "because I believe it" is where the discussion stops. In most cases, being an adherent of a major religion is not a rational choice, which is why the discussion rarely goes anywhere, as opposed to some alternative worldviews that can be rationalized.
Therefore it's not mutual respect. We'd have mutual respect if Christians, Jews, Muslims, Bahais, and Buddhists all knew plenty about each other's histories and current issues within each. Until then, it's mutual silence, and mutual avoiding discussion to aim for a better understanding of each other. Absence of dialogue between the faiths has led to some of history's biggest conflicts and hundreds of millions of deaths, but the absence of dialogue on this entirely different level is a less visible but arguably equally major problem that most of us don't recognize yet.
YourValentine · Member since
I am very much for dialogue between religions. I am also very much in favour of learning about all religions. I strongly oppose and fight against all attempts to force religious views and ethics on me or the legal system of my country. I think religion is very private and should stay that way, I am totally against all kind of proselytizing.
On the other hand I just think it's not okay to use a disaster like the earthquake where 30 000 people are left homeless as a starting point to discuss religion with believers. It would be unkind and disrespectful towards the suffering of people in a highly distressful situation. To point out that ithe eartquake hit the "most Catholic country" would not add much to the dialogue beween the religions imo.
I really think that it's not the absence of challenging suffering people about their religion that causes severe conflicts and hundreds of thousands of casualties: It's intolerance, lack of knowledge and respect and mainly the abuse of religion by leaders who manipulate people disguising their true motives with a religious dicourse. It's necessary to discuss the role of the church in politics and state issues - for example the role of the Vatican during the Mussolini regime to name just one example. But it's totally useless to offend grieving people about their faith.
The Real Wizard · Member since
I see your point, and I realize that most reasonable people take that kind of stance.
That said, I still maintain that the most effective personal growth comes in times of challenge and trial, not in times of smooth sailing. I don't see why religion should be exempt from that. If most people remain complacent in a time like this, nothing will change.
thomasquinn 32989 · Member since
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[b]Sir GH wrote: [/b]
That said, I still maintain that the most effective personal growth comes in times of challenge and trial, not in times of smooth sailing.
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And not just personal growth. History shows that great innovations do not grow gradually. They arrive in a shock, and *settle* gradually.
JoxerTheDeityPirate · Member since
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[b]ThomasQuinn wrote: [/b]
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[b]Sir GH wrote: [/b]
That said, I still maintain that the most effective personal growth comes in times of challenge and trial, not in times of smooth sailing.
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. They arrive in a shock, and *settle* gradually.
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a bit like a Big Mac entering the gut area..
