Is It Hard To Accept That Others Don't Believe What You Do?

[ChristineES]

This was suggested by another thread I was participating in. People are preaching tolerance, but it seems that a lot of people only want tolerance for themselves and not for others. It is not confined to religious, non-religious, anti-religious, but within all these groups.
Are we guilty of that? Do we only empathize and sympathize with like-minded people? Or do we have the capacity to accept that not everyone is going to believe, experience, etc. the same way each of us do?

Discuss anything else also that comes to mind- the thread is not limited to what I wrote. :beach:

 

[Desert Snake]

No.

cheers

 

[ImmortalFlame]

This was suggested by another thread I was participating in. People are preaching tolerance, but it seems that a lot of people only want tolerance for themselves and not for others. It is not confined to religious, non-religious, anti-religious, but within all these groups.
Are we guilty of that? Do we only empathize and sympathize with like-minded people? Or do we have the capacity to accept that not everyone is going to believe, experience, etc. the same way each of us do?

Discuss anything else also that comes to mind- the thread is not limited to what I wrote. :beach:

It will always vary. One of the benefits of forums like this one are that it is set up to tackle a wide-range of topics, and has a wealth of lots of different people with different beliefs and views about those specific subjects. There are undoubtedly a lot of people in these forums who regard a lot of the topics it covers as very divisive, but one thing that continues to surprise me is how the range of topics means that even if you absolutely disagree with someone on one subject, you will more than likely find you share some common ground when it comes to another.

Empathy isn't necessarily dependent on agreement, but it certainly helps. We're only human after-all, and the "them and us" mentality will creep into almost any thread which attempts to address a divisive and sensitive topic. So it helps when there's a wealth of subjects that people can bring to the table, since the more subjects there are to discuss, the more it helps us to find common ground with others, and the more it may shake-up any particular clique we find ourselves in. If you and I come to a strong disagreement in one thread, I'm certain we could easily find another thread where we are in complete agreement. The key is not to drag your "them and us" mentality from one thread to the next, and treat every new subject as a fresh start. To some, that will mean clearing the slate and realizing the person that they thought was an idiot in one thread may actually strongly end up agreeing with them when another subject in on the table - and to others it'll probably just mean restarting those exact same arguments all over again.

 

[Jainarayan]

...do we have the capacity to accept that not everyone is going to believe, experience, etc. the same way each of us do?

I'm working on it, and for the most part, without sounding full of myself, I think I'm succeeding. I think it can best be summed up by trying to be non-judgmental. If someone doesn't think or believe or behave the way we do, and we have some kind of problem with it, I think that's judgmental. I'm trying to purge that from my life. To answer the question as I clipped it, yes I think we have that capacity. We just don't practice it. It's hard work.

 

[ChristineES]

I think we can find common ground with just about anyone if we look.

 

[Jainarayan]

That's the hard part!

 

[nazz]

to answer your question--no

 

[Desert Snake]

Are we guilty of that? Do we only empathize and sympathize with like-minded people? Or do we have the capacity to accept that not everyone is going to believe, experience, etc. the same way each of us do?

I've been arguing with Shermana in various threads, however through discussion and reasoning, it turned out that our viewpoint was not altogether that different.

 

[LuisDantas]

This was suggested by another thread I was participating in. People are preaching tolerance, but it seems that a lot of people only want tolerance for themselves and not for others. It is not confined to religious, non-religious, anti-religious, but within all these groups.
Are we guilty of that? Do we only empathize and sympathize with like-minded people? Or do we have the capacity to accept that not everyone is going to believe, experience, etc. the same way each of us do?

Discuss anything else also that comes to mind- the thread is not limited to what I wrote. :beach:

Let's just say that it is a continuous challenge for me.

 

[Quintessence]

Honestly, it would be horrifying if all other humans understood reality the way I do, because it would mean that they have all had the exact same experiences I have down to every detail. It would mean the universe broke somewhere when I wasn't looking and I would begin to seriously question even the most fundamental knowings.

But, for obvious reasons, I think we all have trouble accepting others who believe offensive things about ourselves or other things we value. I mean, if someone believes I'm a $#@%, I'm not exactly going to want to have anything to do with them.

 

[Twig pentagram]

No it's not hard for me, but it does seem hard for many of the christians around me.
I don't even broadcast my thoughts in public because most of the time they are
perceived as evil.

 

[ChristineES]

No it's not hard for me, but it does seem hard for many of the Christians around me.
I don't even broadcast my thoughts in public because most of the time they are
perceived as evil.

I've seen it all types: religious, non-religious, and so on. People who are religious sometimes don't like different opinions, and non-religious people also don't like different opinions. And if someone perceives you as evil, then that would be their problem and not yours.

 

[Sir Doom]

Tolerance is what you have for something you can't get rid of. I don't tolerate other ideologies. I welcome them. I'm not forced to live with them, I want to. Tolerance is a bogus way of saying, "I can't destroy you."

Anyway, enough soap-boxing.

I find it very odd that people do not arrive at the same religious conclusions that I have. It doesn't bother me, really. Its just very strange. Its the same feeling I get when someone tells me they don't like zombie flicks. I just don't understand how that could be. It's the entire reason I love this place so much.

 

[Infinitum]

If someone walked up to me and told them they wanted to practice what I practice and believe what I believe I would instantly tell them to find something else instead. For me it feels more that I was pushed to my path by necessity and fate than anything else, and it even took me quite a while to finally accept it. It's the same with anyone who wants to try out LHP. I generally tell them not to.

Of course I sympathise with people I share opinions with. I love talking to people and learning from them, so it's actually about self improvement. I have my opinions about religions, sure, but that doesn't mean I couldn't learn something from them. If a person is intelligent, learned and well behaving, I tip my hat at them no matter what they believe in.

 

[freethinker44]

I think we can find common ground with just about anyone if we look.

Well, we're all people... so there's that.

 

[Revoltingest]

This was suggested by another thread I was participating in. People are preaching tolerance, but it seems that a lot of people only want tolerance for themselves and not for others. It is not confined to religious, non-religious, anti-religious, but within all these groups.
Are we guilty of that? Do we only empathize and sympathize with like-minded people? Or do we have the capacity to accept that not everyone is going to believe, experience, etc. the same way each of us do?

Discuss anything else also that comes to mind- the thread is not limited to what I wrote. :beach:

When I was young & foolish, I was offended by people who stupidly disagreed with me.
Now that I'm older & foolish, I'm OK with people being too dim to see that I'm right.

 

[idav]

I do accept the beliefs and opinions of others and it is good to see where people are really coming from. I can definitely appreciate when the discussions are more open-minded but not necessary, we all draw our lines somewhere.

 

[InChrist]

It is usually not hard to accept that others don't believe what I believe, it is understandable. There was a time where I did not believe what I believe now. I think accepting others who do not believe as oneself is an important life lesson and can reveal the level of patience and love one has for others.

 

[LuisDantas]

When I was young & foolish, I was offended by people who stupidly disagreed with me.
Now that I'm older & foolish, I'm OK with people being too dim to see that I'm right.

Frubal.

Sometimes I wish our languages had a more sophisticated of communicating degrees of conviction at its core, as Japanese has a built-in system for communicating degrees of intimacy with much any speech (by way of its treatment particles).

We have no adequate way for telling simple disagreement from slight doubt from moral panic from puzzlement from blood and sulphur indignation in regular speech. It is a particularly serious problem in online forums, where people have been known to sometimes disagree.

 

[Vasilisa Jade]

I don't have a problem as long as others views are not proactively blatantly harmful (Ex. Westboro). I have a big problem with them. They are in a completely different category where they die.

Otherwise, no.

There is a difference between discussing and proselytizing, sharing and teaching, flaming and debating, etc. I try to be aware of that in my behavior.