[31pumpkin]

See, the moral of the topic is to discuss problems and work out your differences so they don't come down to two bullets for one another. Do that & you've got a picture of reality.

[galveston]

Hey! Are Y'all intolerant of 31 Pumpkin? Shame, shame, shame!

Should intolerance be considered a sin? In this country it is against the law, officially. You know, that part about congress not making any law either for or against any religion. You can quote it, I'm sure.

[talaniman]

Hey! Are Y'all intolerant of 31 Pumpkin? Shame, shame, shame!

Should intolerance be considered a sin? In this country it is against the law, officially. You know, that part about congress not making any law either for or against any religion. You can quote it, i'm sure.

I love pumpkin we just clash at times, and yes there is a separation of church and state, so the zealots can't go around hanging the gays in gods name.

[Morganite]

My personal opinion/angle/view...

I don't believe intolerance has anything to do with what we think or believe. I think it's about how we act.

If I love my neighbor as myself - and I do unto others as I would have them to unto me - then it does not matter what I think or believe about that persons lifestyle or beliefs.

Of course we are not speaking of cheating, lying, murder, etc... Of those thinks intoleration is right. I am intolerable of those things.

If I am intolerable of someone who disagrees with me on religious or philosophical grounds ...that is, if I treat them or speak of them poorly...then I am being intolerable - and sinning.

I have to disagree - strongly - with your first statement, because we do not act independently of our thinking. First we have to make a judgement that a person's beliefs are so far removed from our version of orthodoxy that we feel motivated to act against the person. So far, all the activity in our intolerance/bigotry is mental, yet it is the mental determination to act that leads us to act.

Without that mental determination, formulated by thinking, weighing evidence, making judgement on the strength of the evidence contrasted with our personl canon of orthodoxy, and finally determining that 'something' must be done to correct the other person's heretical notions, or to curtail the 'dangers' we believe will accrue as a result of their heterodoxy influencing others, no action on our part would take place.

It is possible to be rigidly intolerant to the point of pathological bigotry without taking any action except making our blood pressure reach dangerous levels by fretting and fuming about them internally. I would hazard a guess that the majority of those who disagree - strongly - with the views/beliefs/etc of others, actually take no external action.

Conversely, one hundred percent of those who take action against those they nomnate as heretics have already submitted the matter to their thought processes, and have run matters through their own set of 'right' and 'wrong' filters, and become convinced that the 'evil' theology must be counteracted by real action. There is no act of intolerance that is independent of prejudiced thinking.


What bigots consistently fail to comprehend is that it is possible to disagree with them without being the spawn of Satan, and also that bigots who spend their lives setting right - as they suppose - those who hold contrary views, are pathologically and sociologically disabled. Bigiotry, prejudice, and its child intolerance, are impossible without the bigot being certain to the nth degree that his or her perspective is the only viable one. It is with this certainty fixed in their minds that they proceed to trample over the sacred beliefs of others. They lack sensitivity, information, compassion, humanity, and many other characteristics that we recognise as being qualities of the God whose winged avenger they claim to be.

I have never met a bigot who was not as unshakeably deluded as a gentleman of my acquaintance who was convinced that he was Oliver Cromwell. That is the nature of intolerance, but it starts in the mind, in thinking, in opinions, in self-assurance that it is impossible for the 'self' to be wrong, and that being so, for anyone else to be right, unless they match you point for point.

The history of bigotry is marked by those who insult, mock, deride, abuse, beat, murder, torture, maim, and even execute heretics. The most alarming thing about the whole process is that they feel completely justified in doing all or any of these things because they are convinced that they are doing it for the benefit of the heretic, and in the name of God.

My answer to their delusion is: "Yeah, right!"

Their answer is to point out some passage from the Bible and insist that the passage gives them, personally, licence to do whatever they think fit to address the heresy and crush the heretic into silence.

It should not take a genius to understand that every man's faith is valuable to him, and that he does not need our permission to hold vierws that are different to ours. Control freaks cannot accept that. They HAVE to be right 100% of the time, and that not only makes them intolerant, but intolerable.




M:)RGANITE

Hello, Val.
That's a nice dream there, but it ain't gonna happen, no way. You know people better than that! The thing to do is to "love your enemies, etc." while at the same time giving them critical information that they need. The "politically correct" movement seems to be gaining speed, but while many in that crowd claim to be tolerant, they refuse to tolerate anyone, or anything that disagrees with them, so who is truly intolerant? One of the beauties of our society in the good old U.S.A. is that we can disagree loudly, but when push comes to shove, we will defend each others right to be wrong.
Truth has never been widely accepted, and even Jesus Christ said that He came to bring a sword, not peace. I promise not to hate you if you disagree with me, and hope you will accord me the same treatment.

It will 'happen' if YOU do it yourself. Waiting for the whole world to turn the same way is a fool's errand. Be the leaven. Don't wait for the crowd. Other nationalities are represented besideds USAians, many are from countries whose citizens enjoy greater freedoms. I say this without prejudice or bigotry!

(This is critical information!)


M:)

[galveston]

We now have a good example of virulent intolerance. We even have a picture to go with it. Rosie O'Donnell.