Fred is coming to town! Oh lucky us........

[BlueStreak]

Just saw on the local news that members of The Westboro Baptist Church, led by Pastor Fred Phelps are coming town! Their primary mission is to protest against the military presence in the Hampton Roads area, but they also plan to pay visits to Beth Shalom Temple and the local chapter of LGBT Pride.

Do these idiots have a deathwish?

Here we go,
Dave

[BlueStreak]

I swear, some people must just enjoy going around making everyone hate them.

WTF?

Dave

[Boreas]

I really don't know what to say about Phelps and his group. It's too easy to just dismiss them as nuts. It's not that simple. When religion can be used as the pretext for such unbridled hatred for virtually anyone who doesn't subscribe to your beliefs it's time to look seriously at religion in general to determine whether it's a net positive for society or a net negative.

John

[d-ray657]

Originally Posted by Boreas

I really don't know what to say about Phelps and his group. It's too easy to just dismiss them as nuts. It's not that simple. When religion can be used as the pretext for such unbridled hatred for virtually anyone who doesn't subscribe to your beliefs it's time to look seriously at religion in general to determine whether it's a net positive for society or a net negative.

John

Having done so, what do you do about it?

I don't think the hatred arises from religious beliefs, but that hateful people mold false religious dogma around their hatred. It is done by those purporting to be Christians, Muslims, Hindus, or whatever contrivance serves their underlying purpose.

Regards,

D-Ray

[piece-itpete]

Thanks D.

Pete

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by d-ray657

I don't think the hatred arises from religious beliefs, but that hateful people mold false religious dogma around their hatred. It is done by those purporting to be Christians, Muslims, Hindus, or whatever contrivance serves their underlying purpose.

Regards,

D-Ray

I believe the problem isn't that hateful people mold false religious dogma but simply that people mold religious dogma. As a result, it's deeply flawed from the outset and rife with possibilities for misinterpretation and corruption. History shows this to be true. Religion has been used as the justification for every conceivable evil by every religion. Over and over and over again.

Actually, there's one religion that this isn't true for. That's Buddhism. There has never been a Buddhist "holy war", never a Buddhist pogrom. Buddhism is distinct from other major religions in one significant sense. There is no deity, no all-powerful, all-knowing, inerrant supreme being who has laid down the law for us and who tells us that other gods or other ways of worshiping that god are false and an abomination.

The more I think about this as I write the more I'm mindful of the fact that the evil in religion is right there in its holy texts. The Bible and Koran, the Bagavad Gita, the holy scripture of every major religion save Buddhism is full of war and murder and all manner of mayhem in the name of one god or another. We all grow up with religious intolerance and hatred as part of our "spiritual development".

The seeds are there. Most of us don't take it as far as Phelps does but the seeds are there.

John

[merrylander]

My parents generation had a saying "The devil quotes scripture to serve his own ends."

[Fast_Eddie]

Originally Posted by d-ray657

I don't think the hatred arises from religious beliefs, but that hateful people mold false religious dogma around their hatred.

I believe you are absolutely right.

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by d-ray657

Having done so, what do you do about it?

I don't think the hatred arises from religious beliefs, but that hateful people mold false religious dogma around their hatred. It is done by those purporting to be Christians, Republicans, Muslims, Hindus, or whatever contrivance serves their underlying purpose.

Regards,

D-Ray

Fixed it for ya.

Dave

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by Boreas

Actually, there's one religion that this isn't true for. That's Buddhism. There has never been a Buddhist "holy war", never a Buddhist pogrom. Buddhism is distinct from other major religions in one significant sense. There is no deity, no all-powerful, all-knowing, inerrant supreme being who has laid down the law for us and who tells us that other gods or other ways of worshiping that god are false and an abomination.

The more I think about this as I write the more I'm mindful of the fact that the evil in religion is right there in its holy texts. The Bible and Koran, the Bagavad Gita, the holy scripture of every major religion save Buddhism is full of war and murder and all manner of mayhem in the name of one god or another. We all grow up with religious intolerance and hatred as part of our "spiritual development".

John

Must be what I like about Bhuddism. Although I still consider myself to be Christian, (Well, technically, anyhow.). I have read The "I Ching" and many books by Lama Rinpoche, Thich Naht Hahn, The Dalai Lama and others. Fascinating that so many of the teachings of Christ and The Bhudda are so similar. Thich Naht Hahn has written books about it, "Living Bhudda, Living Christ" and "Jesus and Bhudda as Brothers". And you're absolutely right, Bhuddists are actually encouraged to study other religions in order to have a better understanding of them, rather than being taught that theirs is "the One True Religion". The Dalai Lama has stated on many occasions that, "Bhuddism is more of a philosophy than a religion." Thich Naht Hahn has built interfaith temples in Asia, the U.S.A. and Europe.

People like Phelps, Robertson and the politicians who have highjacked Christianity make it difficult to remain serious about being a Christian for me.
Sad, but true.

Dave