The bunching of religions into one - CHristianity

[Don Penguinoini]

:areyoucraEVery time we have a religious debate. People use christian beliefs, morals and anything christian to argue a point. There is more in the religious nutshell then christianity. There are many religions, not one.

What i am trying to say is that i think we have to stop this Religion = Christianity way of thinking. Broaden our horizons.

Thought?

 

[Storm]

I agree.

 

[Random]

Absolutely. Particularly our American posters (the majority) tend the most insistent that all religion should alpha-omega with Christianity.

Atheists rarely attack Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Paganism directly...probably because it's not as much fun as flamebaiting Christians.

Good thread, Penguino. Furbals!

 

[Don Penguinoini]

i just replied to logican (sorry if spelt wrong mate) His message was anti-religious. But it was really anti-christian. Didn't apply to all religions.

 

[Don Penguinoini]

Absolutely. Particularly our American posters (the majority) tend the most insistent that all religion should alpha-omega with Christianity.

Atheists rarely attack Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Paganism directly...probably because it's not as much fun as flamebaiting Christians.

Good thread, Penguino. Furbals!

Thanks, i've always preffered furbals

 

[Dirty Penguin]

:areyoucraEVery time we have a religious debate. People use christian beliefs, morals and anything christian to argue a point. There is more in the religious nutshell then christianity. There are many religions, not one.

What i am trying to say is that i think we have to stop this Religion = Christianity way of thinking. Broaden our horizons.

Thought?

I try to argue the point from a "common sense" perspective. I'm often involved in those threads where people profess Yeshua (Jesus) is god or part of a trinity....et...etc....

I often don't agree with these concepts but then I get beat down and told I don't understand. I get the whole "you don't know what your talking about"....yada yada yada.....

I may not agree with their view but I repect it. I have no right to say whoes way of life is right or wrong. I can only say what's right for me.

Sometimes in debates people's emotions get the best of them and then that's when they go on the attach which causes the focus of the debate to shift in a totally different direction.

I agree that we need to broaden our view and that's what I though this forum was all about. I try to listen...I may not agree but it doesn't mean I don't understand.

"can't we all just get along":areyoucra

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Atheists rarely attack Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Paganism directly...probably because it's not as much fun as flamebaiting Christians.

Or perhaps it comes from lack of knowledge.

Personally, I know Christianity and the Bible much better than I know the beliefs and Scriptures of other religions. Some of my objections to religion are general, but I have quite a few objections to Christianity specifically. I'm not familiar enough with most other religions to have any specific disagreements with any of their teachings.

 

[ChristineES]

Let Christians talk about Christian beliefs (which is the one we(they) know about the most) and other religions can talk about theirs, too (no has ever stopped them). It isn't Christians faults that other religions don't add their inputs as much.
I don't feel comfortable talking about other religions as I don't know as much about them and a, for instance, Buddhist would not want a Christian getting their beliefs wrong by accident in a post.

 

[Wandered Off]

Religions are cultural. I don't know, but I suspect if you found a similar board originating out of a Hindu area and posts in Hindi, many of the 'attacks' would be more focused on Hinduism. I could be wrong, but it seems unsurprising to me that the predominant culture of posters will impact the dialog. It's not reflective of any intent to slight other religions, and it's not a matter of which religion is "fun to flamebait". We are simply more comfortable discussing that with which we are most culturally familiar.

The places on this forum where I learn the most about other religions are the DIR areas that are not meant for debate. Perhaps another part of the problem is that people of other religions don't seem to post as many topics in the debates area. Maybe you could help to mitigate that problem.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Let Christians talk about Christian beliefs (which is the one we(they) know about the most) and other religions can talk about theirs, too (no has ever stopped them). It isn't Christians faults that other religions don't add their inputs as much.

However, I do think that Christians, or at least evangelists, shoulder some of the blame for putting theological debates into the context of a Christian/non-Christian false dichotomy.

 

[Quagmire]

I feel your pain Penguino, but really, as far as RF goes things could be alot worse;

The last forum I was a part of was much more clearly devided into camps; evangelical christians on one side, hostlie athiests on the other,

One thing both sides had in common (aside from the fact that neither side seemed particularly familiar with anything the Bible actually says) is that they were both approaching thiesm from an entirely Christian perspective, and by an extremely narrow definition of Christianity.

The athiest's attitude was, "If you believe in God you're obviously a Bible thumper".

The Christian's attitude was, "If you haven't accepted Jesus Christ as your lord and saviour, you're obviously an athiest".

There were some threads where anyone trying to introduce any insights or perspectives from outside these two camps could count on being similtaneously accused of "defending" and "attacking" Christianity by the different factions in regards to the same post.

I see this in real life sometimes too. It's almost impossible to reason with someone who's been programed to accept a certain, narrow, definition of anything.

My opinion is it's nearly impossible to understand anything unless you compare it to something else, and spend at least as much time acknowledging the similarities as the differences.

Of course, before a person can do that they have to acknowledge that there's a world outside of whatever small postion of it they're familair with.

Like I say, things could be worse. Compared to my last forum and quite a few forums I've checked out since, the membership of RF as a whole is incredibly openminded.

So much so that IMO the few narrow minded people, by contrast, just inadvertantly serve as a warning label to elective ignorance.

No matter what these few people are saying, what I hear is, "Caution: this is what will happen if you close your mind. You will become bitter, hostile, and make yourself look ridiculous".

 

[Guitar's Cry]

Absolutely. Particularly our American posters (the majority) tend the most insistent that all religion should alpha-omega with Christianity.

In America, religion tends to equal Christian in every day discussion. If a person says, "I am religious," it is often assumed they are Christian.

 

[Mercy Not Sacrifice]

Let Christians talk about Christian beliefs (which is the one we(they) know about the most) and other religions can talk about theirs, too (no has ever stopped them). It isn't Christians faults that other religions don't add their inputs as much.

You sure about that? And even if that were true, would all Christians really want that?

 

[Sunstone]

:areyoucraEVery time we have a religious debate. People use christian beliefs, morals and anything christian to argue a point. There is more in the religious nutshell then christianity. There are many religions, not one.

What i am trying to say is that i think we have to stop this Religion = Christianity way of thinking. Broaden our horizons.

Thought?

Many people are not familiar with religions other than Christianity. You could do a public service here, Penguino, by introducing them to ideas and perspectives they might not otherwise be aware of.

 

[dust1n]

I too have to admit it's a lack of knowledge on other religions, and I'm not too quick to attack the details of somethin I don't know about. Then I demonstrate my ignorance on the douchiest level. But I did decide to join this fourm to get back in the habit of reading more than everyday ******** I have to listen to. Afterall, I'm only 18, and I'm afraid I've had little time payin attention, just more time (hopefully) to learn more a little more.

 

[ChristineES]

You sure about that? And even if that were true, would all Christians really want that?

I study about different religions because they interest me. But I don't think Christians should have to study extensively about every religion. Even if I do know a little about another religion, I still would not answer for a question about the religion. That would be a like a man saying he knows what it is like to be a woman because he has known women and even lived with them. Only women can know what it is be a woman and men only know what it is like to be a man.

If you want other religions to chime in their opinions, then say so in your OPs.

 

[BucephalusBB]

:areyoucraEVery time we have a religious debate. People use christian beliefs, morals and anything christian to argue a point. There is more in the religious nutshell then christianity. There are many religions, not one.

What i am trying to say is that i think we have to stop this Religion = Christianity way of thinking. Broaden our horizons.

Thought?

I blame tv.
We see american movies and shows the most, and every real american movie or show has at least one moment where a christian dude thanks God..:cover:

 

[Aasimar]

:areyoucraEVery time we have a religious debate. People use christian beliefs, morals and anything christian to argue a point. There is more in the religious nutshell then christianity. There are many religions, not one.

What i am trying to say is that i think we have to stop this Religion = Christianity way of thinking. Broaden our horizons.

Thought?

While I understand what you mean, as one of those American posters. <.< >.> The reason I concentrate on Christianity aside from the obvious fact that it's the religion I'm most exposed to is that it caused the most direct harm in my every day life. There are no Hindu activist groups bombing abortion clinics in America, no Hindu's trying to insert religious laws into our government, no Jainist attempt to re-write the constitution, nor are there a bunch of Muslims trying to push teaching intelligent design to children in my country. While I do think religion is illogical and harmful, there are as always degrees. If I lived in India I'm sure I'd feel much more affected by Hindu beliefs, but I don't, so I'm not. Sorry if it seems like you're being ignored

Oh and I just figured out how to prove to any theist that atheism is not a religion. Spell check doesn't try to capitalize it

 

[Ozzie]

:areyoucraEVery time we have a religious debate. People use christian beliefs, morals and anything christian to argue a point. There is more in the religious nutshell then christianity. There are many religions, not one.

What i am trying to say is that i think we have to stop this Religion = Christianity way of thinking. Broaden our horizons.

Thought?

You can't expect Christians to argue outside their perspective. But I agree not all religions argue from the same perspective. And any "religious" arguement cannot be generic.

 

[Fluffy]

I agree that equating religion with Christianity is wrong. However, you should expect the majority of threads to be about Christianity since that is the majority religion especially on a majority American forum.

Some concepts, such as god, are difficult to define outside of a particular tradition. Therefore, I prefer to explore their scope and limitations within a certain tradition which, more often than not, will be Christianity. I try to make an effort every time to state when this is the case.

For example, I want to start a thread later today entitled "Should Christian's endorse the Bible?" I'm sure the arguments I present could be generalised to several other religions but that is irrelevant to me because I am not out to attack religion but examine whether my criticism is valid. If its not valid for Christianity, it won't be valid for Islam etc. If it is valid for Christianity, then it might be but its validity needs to be established first before making that exploration sensible.

Atheists rarely attack Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Paganism directly...probably because it's not as much fun as flamebaiting Christians.

We just love flamebaiting those Christians. My absolute favourite method is to make negative generalisations about them and then, after they object, retreat by saying "Well obviously I only meant most/some Christians."