Why Do Religious People/Rest Of The World Hate Us So Much?

[wolverine0012000]

heck just to know theres someone else that has to go through the same hell as me here is heartening. i love the fact that this state is one of the least restrictive on just about everything else but we sorely lack in social understanding and tolerance of minority groups, including anyone NOT hetero/white/christian.

wasnt it in siuox falls where an openly gay college professor was murderd and police mucked it up so the killer was never found?

[Guest Baby-Toa]

i don't know might have to look that one up. I don't watch the news often or read the paper often. I know sioux falls as long as you keep it to youself you're just fine.

[paradox]

me personally not being of any religious denomination or even care about a god, grand poomba, or giant pumpkin, I still have no had any trouble from any Christian be it Mormen, Catholic, or vampire zombie death cults. The normal day to day Christian really does not care about you. Zealots on the other hand would probably string you up. I have met my share of dogmatic zealots who do the things you say and curse people to hell, spit on them, and threaten to beat them up with hate sticks. However a true dogmatic zealot is pretty rare and even then they try and keep their hatemongering to themselves as to avoid going to jail.

[sarah_ab]

ok first off the girl who appeared on secret lives of women was ENGAGING HER UNDERAGE SIBLING IN THE BEHAVIOR.. showing her her onesies, encouraging her to referto her boyfriend as her daddy... i find that grossly inappropriate

secondly,... what is she a moron? she went on a national tv show and told the world she gets off on dressing up like a baby, while she WORKS IN A DAYCARE and she doesn't think anything bad will happen?

regardly of what her fetish is, i dont want a teacher or other person working around children who is so willing to air their private lives to the world.

What she does in her own home is private, but the minute she is so willing to take down those personal boundaries for anyone to see, speaks miles to her character. what other boundaries is she willing to cross? she also said she wore pull ups to work, and if anyone went online after watching that show they would learn that some people do engage in this for sexual reasons, so as a parent would you want your children around a teacher who was wearing sexual props to work?

honestly, she clearly did not think about the consequences of what she was doing.

as for the rest of it.. i can't answer, but i can tell you, some people engage in behaviors that i find disturbing, and dont want to know about. While i wouldn't necessarily resort to violance or vandilism, others aren't so level headed.

[hidden]

Why Do Religious People/Rest Of The World Hate Us So Much?

I hate religion probably about as much as it hates me. If anyone wants to hear about why I feel I do, let me know and I will post it. It will make you think.

Got a bit of trivia. Answer this question in a way that will not disprove religion: Homer Simpson: "Can God microwave a burrito so hot that he himself could not eat it?"

[diaperpt]

If the clergy wants to battle demons, they should concentrate on the devil in the Oval Office!

Where have you been? Bush is gone! Seriously, why don't you give it up?

But as for the whole religion thing, I'm glad to see several others have spoken up to say stop categorizing ALL religion, ALL denominations, ALL clergy as being narrow minded, hateful, and evil. Yes there are some out there who do some pretty nasty stuff in the name of God, but that is not true of ALL Christians.

I'm glad to see also that someone pointed out that you don't have to be religious to be nasty, spiteful and hateful.

IMHO, it comes down to the fact that, sadly, there are a lot of people in the world who think their point of view is the only right one and people who don't agree with them ought to be vilified. Some of those narrow minded nasty people are religious and some are not.

[paradox]

so can we start a cult yet where we string up non beleivers and burn them for not wearing diapers? We could do the whole thing well padded

[diapered jak]

lets all have a nice light conversation about religion and politics

btw

While i wouldn't necessarily resort to violance or vandilism, others aren't so level headed.

yo

[AutieAB]

lets all have a nice light conversation about religion and politics

Meh, could be worse. We could be "debating" the healthcare reforms (using the word 'debate' lightly here, seems to be more of a national slanging match than a debate )

Anyway, any sufficiently large group with something in common (shared religion, sports team, etc, etc, etc, etc) will have a subset who go to far and attack any who dare to not conform. Children do it a school (everyone picks on the different kid), students do it at college, adults do it at work and wherever else they gather.

To the OP, the US is a big old place, why don't you move to a more open-minded part of the country if you feel that endangered by your community?

[tris]

Moving is expensive. . We're in a recession, you know. .

[freswith]

Wild thought....

Is religion a kind of fetish?

Not everyone has it, and people have it in varying degrees. No-one can understand or appreciate another persons fetish/religion, even though they say they do. It acts like a compulsion, making people do the craziest things... Starving oneself, giving up bacon, grovelling, sprinkling oneself with drops of water, funny food fetishes about wine and water (rather horrible, when you think about it) , Oh, and certainly not least, the funny clothes they all wear. Some people actually get themselves off on it.

Not to mention the books they pass round, with the silly ideas in them.

... and a large streak of BDSM... All that tolchoking and nailing up (http://soomka.com/nadsat.html) as Alex said in Clockwork Orange.

... and as for sex! Well these people are way up the curve!

.... and yet they all seem to have hostile opinions about us.

[babykeiff]

freswith, I like your thinking for two reasons. One – the fact that you don’t blindly accept religion, or more correctly, organised religion and that you compare it to a fetish, and two - the fact that you DO think and use your own mind rather than suffer marketing hype or organised religion.

I have not mentioned before my own views on religious belief for fear it would cause a flame war, so before I do so, I will firstly state clearly and concisely, that I am NOT trying to disrespect any one person's spiritual belief, and the following is MY opinion only.

Organised religion is in anything from hype to complete misrepresentation. All versions of it is based on one persons / group of people’s interpretation of one book, and its translation. The book has many names - Bible, Koran etc, and various fanatics choose what they wish to take from this book for their own self gain. If you doubt me, I will site an example for all who follow the 'Roman Catholic' teachings. Within this religion, it is governed by 10 commandments. I draw your attention to the second and its 'Roman Catholic' meaning -

"Do not make an image or any likeness of what is in the heavens above..."

This prohibits the construction or fashioning of "idols" in the likeness of created things (beasts, fish, birds, and people) and worshipping them.

Shockingly, this is only PART of Exodus 20:3..5 which states

"3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me"

Compare this FULL version to any 'Roman Catholic Church' building, where on display is many statues, with shrines and prayers dedicated to the person depicted by the statue.

Considering this error within this organised religion, it is not difficult to see how one commandment is merged with another within a religious following and intolerance with a 'non-believer' is practiced.

Every 'organised religion' states that if you don't believe in 'their' rules, that you will end up in 'hell' and/or be dammed for eternity. This is humorous considering that EVERY one is based on the same book, but just different interpretations of the book.

I believe that 'organised religion' had its 'day' when the average education of its followers was below grade school - i.e. its followers could not read. In the current century, although followers can read, some chose not to, but instead chose to trust and believe what is told to them by their spiritual leaders. If history has not taught us at this stage that all people - despite professed belief or choice - can be corrupt. This was said in 1887 by John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men."

That was 122 years ago, but it is only within the last twenty years that the world started to question then church in relation to its choices and forced abuse. That is due to one reason - lack of knowledge.

Within my signature, is the quote, 'before you make up your mind, open it' and it is what I strongly suggest to all here. If my opinions are incorrect, I will gladly recant anything stated within this post.

All this being considered, I don't see any difference, nor would I treat 'them' differently, between a self processed 'religious' person and a 'non' religious person. To do so would be discriminatory - and it is discrimination against, in my opinion, the 'non' religious educated person.

As each person is unique, so is their choices and opinions. As such, it is these choices which are responsible for that person’s level of tolerance towards another. I think that tolerance comes with education, as Ace-Manner has stated –

“I fear things I don't understand , and I hate things that I fear”

The silly thing about this is that ‘fear’ is an emotion – and it our experience that teaches us how to handle fear. What is the purpose of ‘fear’? Fear has only one purpose – and that is to be conquered. Fear can only be conquered by learning and accepting the source. As such, hating things that one fears is a display of ones ignorance, and we know that ignorance leads to intolerance, bigotory and hatred.

Therefore, it is my believe, and conclusion that there is a correlation between organised religion and intolerance, bigotory and hatred.

[Guest Baby-Toa]

wow stated very well babykeiff.

[beachxbunni123]

I'm religious and I'm not like that at all. I don't think its necessarily religion that makes people that way, I think it's more of their culture or how they were raised that would make them think that way. Do you live in a really small rural town? The environment in a smaller, rural town is going to have more people clinging on to strict culture.

[Darkfinn]

Religion has been the number one cause of the spread of disease and death in the world. It hardens hearts and closes minds... and the last thing we need in this world is less tolerance for our fellow man.

[babykeiff]

I'm religious and I'm not like that at all. I don't think its necessarily religion that makes people that way, I think it's more of their culture or how they were raised that would make them think that way. Do you live in a really small rural town? The environment in a smaller, rural town is going to have more people clinging on to strict culture.

To answer your question, NO, I live in Dublin - have lived in London, Paris, Dusseldorf, Barcelona and Frankfort. Some parts of my job have me traveling worldwide, so with me, that conclusion of 'small town views = small mind' is an incorrect stereotype.

'Small mind' or uneducated person does not correlate to the amount of time that person spend in education. It does relate to the 'value' of the education.

You stated that you are religious. Can I resolve the ambiquity and presume that you meant by 'religious' is that you practice/belong to one organised religion.

If so -

Answer this to yourself (Do you practice/belong to some 'organised religion' or do you chose to practice the teachings from the bible/koran etc? - and yes - they ARE different.), as I am NOT trying to change your beliefs. I am only curious in the question = 'do you know the reason that YOU believe / choose that path?

[curiositykilledthecat]

I'm a christian and even trained in ministry. I have my beliefs and convictions however the Bible as I understand it does not condone attacking others who act differently. Jesus was only harsh with the religious, not the sinners.

[curiositykilledthecat]

i certainly hope no one else has to endure the fear of being outed that i do. if you can go about and be accepted (or even just tolerated) for what you are i am happy for you. it will not happen here (not in my lifetime at least).

curiositykilledthecat - you do realize that the population of the entire state of south dakota is less than 400,000 and the odds of ther being more than half a dozen to ten ABDL people in the entire state are ASTRONOMICAL? by the .01% state earilier there should statistically be only 4 of us. i know of me, one in aberdeen who contacted me through another site and toa (if hes not the same, but i dont think so). so thats 3 people outof 400,000 on one of the most visited ABDL sites on teh net. see why were a littel started to find each other?

Thus why I said welcome to the love boat. You live in a state that is in and of itself the boonies. What the heck is there in south dakota? I share the same fear of being outted amongst a few of my friends and my parents. I don't ever want to have that talk with them. *shudders*

[Yvhuce]

Alright... Listen up... It's not religious people who cause problems, most of the time. It's the fanatically religious nutjobs! Also, one shouldn't confuse Christianity as a whole with the Catholics. The Catholic church has a long history of bouts with corruption. Most of the rest of us don't. And some of us have been persecuted by them because of our difference in views. So don't go and lump us in with them. However, there is one thing that doesn't help some of us Christians: the rejection of God is considered to be close to the worst sin commitable. Some people are just too religious to be able to let that slide.

For people in general, anyone who doesn't conform to society's idea of "normal" is to be persecuted. Hell, I've even caught flack here for not liking to use my diapers...

[Vic]

Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition! Oh religion, why do I hate thee so?

Peace,

Vic

[Bettypooh]

Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition! Oh religion, why do I hate thee so?

Peace,

Vic

Hmmm....The way I heard it on Firesign Theater was "Pass the lord and praise the ammunition"

Every religion I've encountered tolerated it's own intolerants- even when it's teachings expressly forbade intolerance. It's not the religions themselves that are the problem, it's the irreligious people who run them and the sheeple who follow them blindly Their unrestrained actions have caused their own religion's undoing and I'm all for letting them continue down that path until those few who remain ask themselves what they did to cause themselves this much grief? When they then see those answers they will abandon their religion as they currently practice it and realize that it is them who was always misled and not those they were told to despise You can't grow 'good' by planting 'hate' and we are beginning to see the outcome of that as anti-discrimination laws are becoming commonplace to protect the innocent people that almost all religions have done so much harm to. It's the Golden Rule of every major religion exemplified- they're now getting the intolerance back their religions have historically given. I do hope they like that because they deserve it

Bettypooh

[Phil Schwartz]

The OP's post reminded me of why I'm so glad I moved long, long ago. Grew up in a not-so-small town in the Flyover States. The bigotry wasn't quite as intense as in the OP's town, but it was certainly palpable. Everybody knew who the family that didn't go to church was. Everybody knew where the Jewish families lived. Everyone was caucasian. Nobody had a foreign accent. On the whole and in public, people were generally congenial.

In private, it was a whole different story. Racist jokes, anti-semitic remarks, blonde jokes, your standard "aren't those foreigners stupid" conversations were par for the course. Heck, there was a whole genre of "woman driver" remarks and attitudes. Even though everyone strove to be as homogeneous as possible, this just meant that people would use even less important things to divide each other in order to feel superior - height, hair color, weight, age, favorite ice cream flavor, choice of sports team, kind of car, etc.

I wouldn't say it was the religion in particular that led to this, rather that the religion was compatible with it. It fit well with a xenophobic, small-minded society. Each reinforced the other.

Now I happen to be in Northern California, where society is about as open minded as it gets. We still get the street preachers and door-to-door witnesses, and even the Reverend Phelps paid our state a visit recently, probably because finding people who are "different" here is like shooting fish in a barrel. On the whole, the great majority are live-and-let-live, going so far as to interfere when bigotry starts to rear its ugly head. The Christians here are generally a tolerant bunch. All of the other religious groups are confidently visible. This environment comes from people's true attitudes - it's not just a show of congeniality, like in my hometown.

Someone here mentioned that fear drives intolerance, and that ignorance drives fear. I couldn't agree more.

[Vic]

I am fundamentally opposed to fundamentalists! However, in a serious note I have to say that I can't stand anything that has caused as much intolerance, fear, death and pain as religious people have done in the name of their religion .

It's been one of the leading causes of war and witch hunts throughout all these centuries where men have claimed to be "civilized", and it is still going on today (note the middle east, and those crazies).

If it breeds hatred, fear, intolerance, and passing judgements on others, then it is

EVIL. Yes I view religion as one of the great evils loose upon this Earth of ours. If you don't think that my opinion is right, fine, you are an individual who is free to think anything you wish.

However, when somebody murders a doctor (while he was attending church I might add), and calls him a murderer, and then has his actions applauded by like minded nut jobs, you might want to remember that these people believe that they are in the right, and that he was merely doing God's work here on Earth.

What's the difference between a carbomb going off in a crowded market in Bagdad, and the bombing of an planned parenthood clinic? It's really hard for me to tell the two apart. When a homosexual here gets beaten to death a lot of people say to themselves (they won't say it in public, oh no!) "good job, that fag deserved it". Much like a girl in the middle east getting stoned to death for wearing makeup.

So when you say "WE'RE NOT LIKE THAT", just remember that you can't say that about EVERYONE in your church, there is still intolerance, hatred, and fear. Religion just gives them a way to focus these evil thoughts, a way to justify how they think, and what they do. I've seen small towns where all you had to be was from a different state and you were labeled as an "outsider", and therefore a target for a lot of whispering and backstabbing. Intolerance thrives in religion.

I firmly believe in God, and even more firmly believe that religion has nothing to do with God, instead it (like politics) is in the business of gaining money and power. What use does God have for these things? How can you find love in hate?

Peace,

Vic

[sarah_ab]

there was a whole genre of "woman driver" remarks

well yeah.. but come on... women can't drive.. thats a known fact......

[curiositykilledthecat]

I am fundamentally opposed to fundamentalists! However, in a serious note I have to say that I can't stand anything that has caused as much intolerance, fear, death and pain as religious people have done in the name of their religion .

It's been one of the leading causes of war and witch hunts throughout all these centuries where men have claimed to be "civilized", and it is still going on today (note the middle east, and those crazies).

If it breeds hatred, fear, intolerance, and passing judgements on others, then it is

EVIL. Yes I view religion as one of the great evils loose upon this Earth of ours. If you don't think that my opinion is right, fine, you are an individual who is free to think anything you wish.

However, when somebody murders a doctor (while he was attending church I might add), and calls him a murderer, and then has his actions applauded by like minded nut jobs, you might want to remember that these people believe that they are in the right, and that he was merely doing God's work here on Earth.

What's the difference between a carbomb going off in a crowded market in Bagdad, and the bombing of an planned parenthood clinic? It's really hard for me to tell the two apart. When a homosexual here gets beaten to death a lot of people say to themselves (they won't say it in public, oh no!) "good job, that fag deserved it". Much like a girl in the middle east getting stoned to death for wearing makeup.

So when you say "WE'RE NOT LIKE THAT", just remember that you can't say that about EVERYONE in your church, there is still intolerance, hatred, and fear. Religion just gives them a way to focus these evil thoughts, a way to justify how they think, and what they do. I've seen small towns where all you had to be was from a different state and you were labeled as an "outsider", and therefore a target for a lot of whispering and backstabbing. Intolerance thrives in religion.

I firmly believe in God, and even more firmly believe that religion has nothing to do with God, instead it (like politics) is in the business of gaining money and power. What use does God have for these things? How can you find love in hate?

Peace,

Vic

First of all, nobody applauded the guy who killed him. Might want to know what your talking about before being the very thing your accusing others of being. No I don't feel sorry for the doctor who made his living murdering babies however he shouldn't have been killed like that. There's just as much intolerance, hatred and ignorance outside of the religious community towards them as is being directed out from said community. I love how those who cry the most about intolerance are the most intolerant.

I'm not attacking you vic, this isn't directed toqards you but rather an observation i have seen over the years. I respect people's views however I'm tired of always being attacked or called intolerant when people don't even know me. I may not support what you do however I respect the right to do it. Minus pedophiles and beatiality because there's gotta be a line somewhere. I mean I don't get furrydom or transgender stuff, quite frankly it scares me however I'm not going to treat someone any differently unless they give me a reason to.

Also you live in Indiana, what the heck do you expect. I went to a steak n shake in richmond and i swear everyone was from the same gene pool.