Christians launch defence of faith 'under attack'

[Pegg]

Whatever. It's their thing.

I'm sure we all have bigger things to concern ourSelves with. no?

yeah, im not concerned with it dont get me wrong... but my personal opinion about it is that i dont like it.

 

[sandandfoam]

But it seems that the worlds push for secularism is driving the discrimination against religious expression...thats what im getting at.

I disagree.
I am for secularism because I believe in freedom of religious expression.
Keeping the state completely out of religion is the best way to ensure this for all imo.

 

[Pegg]

Humans always go from one extreme to another. With a religious majority you have discrimination against non-religious expression and vice a versa. I wish we could just be peaceful and balanced. But apparently that isn't in our nature.

thats very true

our problem is we sit in judgement of each other way too much and we shouldnt... we should leave the judging to God as Jesus said.

 

[sandandfoam]

But apparently that isn't in our nature.

I don't agree
Humanity has the capacity to improve ourselves and live peacefully, of course there are vested interests who are served by the current status quo but there we are. It's in our own hands.

 

[Pegg]

I disagree.
I am for secularism because I believe in freedom of religious expression.
Keeping the state completely out of religion is the best way to ensure this for all imo.

yes but in many cases (as is happening in the US and the UK) the governments are imposing restrictions on religion.... they cannot wear their religious attire/trinkets in some settings for instance... this means secularism is going beyond making religion free to banning it in public life

for many religious people, their religion IS their life. Can you imaging telling the Dali Lama that he cannot wear his orange dress in public?

 

[Madhuri]

I don't agree
Humanity has the capacity to improve ourselves and live peacefully, of course there are vested interests who are served by the current status quo but there we are. It's in our own hands.

Oh, I believe that individuals can. But I am very sceptical about society moving forward in a collective effort of self improvement. At least, we've not managed it so far.
It would be nice though!

 

[Madhuri]

yes but in many cases (as is happening in the US and the UK) the governments are imposing restrictions on religion.... they cannot wear their religious attire/trinkets in some settings for instance... this means secularism is going beyond making religion free to banning it in public life

for many religious people, their religion IS their life. Can you imaging telling the Dali Lama that he cannot wear his orange dress in public?

But you can also have a non-secular society posing the same restrictions on people of religions other than the dominant. It can happen in either case. What I like is great diversity within a society, so that here is a constant power battle from all sides to move forward and promote change. I don't think there is or has been a perfect situation for everyone.

 

[jmvizanko]

So their inability to suppress other beliefs is discrimination against their own? Gotta love ethnocentrism and hypocrisy...

 

[Thief]

All about trinkets.....

If you want something to worry about....

There is a movement at the UN (United Nations), to out law all criticism of Islam.

Apparently some people believe their faith is above critique.

They would have you sat nothing...if you have objection.

And don't you dare post a joke.


So much for freedom of speech.

 

[Pegg]

But you can also have a non-secular society posing the same restrictions on people of religions other than the dominant. It can happen in either case. What I like is great diversity within a society, so that here is a constant power battle from all sides to move forward and promote change. I don't think there is or has been a perfect situation for everyone.

unless we all have a common ground by which to place our belief on

Ghandi said it best when he said "when your country and mine come together on the basis of the teachings of Jesus, we would have solved not only our problems, but the problems of the whole world"

 

[Looncall]

Oh, I believe that individuals can. But I am very sceptical about society moving forward in a collective effort of self improvement. At least, we've not managed it so far.

I do not agree with this. In civilized parts of the world, slavery and torture, for example, are no longer acceptable. At one time they were.

The moral zeitgeist does move forward. It merely meets certain impediments, especially from religions.

 

[LuisDantas]

unless we all have a common ground by which to place our belief on

Ghandi said it best when he said "when your country and mine come together on the basis of the teachings of Jesus, we would have solved not only our problems, but the problems of the whole world"

Seems like a statement in support of Secularism to me.

 

[Kathryn]

Disallowing people in certain professions to wear ANY jewelry or ANY necklaces is not discrimination - it's simply a safety measure. I hate when people pull the victim/discrimination card when the real issue is safety. It totally undermines their position.

What DID tick me off one time was when my daughter visited a local church youth group thingie and was told to take off her crucifix because it was "Catholic." Now THAT is ignorance - RANK IGNORANCE!

With friends like that, who needs enemies?

 

[waitasec]

where's the faith if these christians take these things into their own hands?
is god that insecure or are they?

 

[Meow Mix]

There seems to me to be an anti-religious sentiment which is manifest in things like hijab and cross wearing bans.
I think people should be allowed wear or believe whatever they want. The authorities should stay out of it.

Frubals, agreed.

 

[waitasec]

There seems to me to be an anti-religious sentiment which is manifest in things like hijab and cross wearing bans.
I think people should be allowed wear or believe whatever they want. The authorities should stay out of it.

i think a reason there is an anti-religious sentiment is because the faithful take things into their own hands rather than trusting in their god...
i believe anyone has the right to express what they believe if they choose to do so... religious and non religious

these people have to realize they can't have their cake and eat it too...
where is their faith? all i see is how the faithful try to take control, which isn't being faithful, but an act insecurity by taking things into their own hands.

birth control
same sex marriages
art that expresses a negative connotation of god

 

[painted wolf]

Do they miss the irony of having Christianity being the state sanctioned religion? The queen is head of the national Christian church.... and Christians are oppressed?

Am I missing something?

wa:do

 

[Kilgore Trout]

When exactly were Christians not whining about being persecuted? Isn't crying about being downtrodden a requirement of the religion?

 

[Magic Man]

There seems to me to be an anti-religious sentiment which is manifest in things like hijab and cross wearing bans. I think people should be allowed wear or believe whatever they want. The authorities should stay out of it.

People are allowed to wear whatever they want. I don't know the specifics of the hijab ban, but I was under the impression that it wasn't just a ban on those, but on facial coverings in public. There is also no cross-wearing ban. As the second article said, they have a ban on nurses wearing necklaces of any kind. Her crucifix was not being singled out.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Aparantely even a Muslim nurse wouldn't get away with a necklace.
I can see that as a possible health care hazard.

You lean over to assist someone in bed,
and your jewelery pokes them in the eye.

(is just the first thing that comes to mind)

... or even if it doesn't poke them in the eye, it touches their face and deposits a little bit of whatever was infecting the last patient that the nurse dangled over.

There's been a trend in hospitals to get doctors to stop wearing ties: they're constantly dangling onto patients and they don't get washed very often... certainly not over the course of the day as a doctor does his rounds. I think there would be similar issues with dangling jewelry.

I dunno. As a nurse in a childrens' ward... maybe...
Big crucifixes on the walls, to an outsider.
But honestly, if it's a Catholic Hospital,
what would you expect?

But in a publicly funded hospital, you would expect that those things wouldn't be there (I wouldn't, anyhow). The problem arises when the publicly funded hospital is the Catholic hospital.

i hate the image of the cross...I think its highly inappropriate that people choose to wear the murder weapon as an object of devotion.

I always thought that an empty tomb would be a better symbol for Christianity, but it'd be hard to put on a necklace.

for many religious people, their religion IS their life. Can you imaging telling the Dali Lama that he cannot wear his orange dress in public?

No, I can't.

Can I imagine telling him that he's not exempt from the normal rules about wearing loose clothing around machinery just because those clothes are religious? Yes, I can.

Disallowing people in certain professions to wear ANY jewelry or ANY necklaces is not discrimination - it's simply a safety measure. I hate when people pull the victim/discrimination card when the real issue is safety. It totally undermines their position.

I agree.

What DID tick me off one time was when my daughter visited a local church youth group thingie and was told to take off her crucifix because it was "Catholic." Now THAT is ignorance - RANK IGNORANCE!

I agree as well... though if it's a private church group running a voluntary event, it's their right to be ignorant. You get to protect your rights by opting out, if you so choose.