Respect my Belief
Hello Steemians, let's discuss religion. I'll like to know your opinion on this.
Should beliefs be respected? Don't you think the sentence "Respect my belief" is a religious blackmail?
Don't you think beliefs should be discussed, talked about and criticized, so that only those that are rational and cohere with centrist societal ideas are accepted and welcomed by members of the society?
Some religious beliefs advocate that their adherents kill gay people, keep slaves, marry underaged girls, stone women perceived as adulterous, subdue women, and kill infidels (non-conformists). Should we fold our hands, keep quiet, and respect such beliefs?
Some religions operate a caste system that places people and their generations in constant subjugation just because they are born into a lower caste. Is such belief worth our respect? Shouldn't we be critiquing it?
Just imagine we had a religion that sacrifices twins today, I'm sure its followers would want us to fold our hands and clamour for respect.
I do not think it is foolish to argue religion. Religions are ideas, just like public policies, philosophy, economics, proposals and politics. It is very vital to extensively discuss ideas, so that the ones that don't pass the intellectual test are discarded. Discussion of ideas have made the world better, so we shouldn't stop discussing.
Religions that are not receptive to criticisms and create penalties for what they term 'blasphemy and heressy' are most likely to advocate babaric ideas and passionately pass them to subsequent generations.
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In a nutshell, you have a right to believe whatever you want, similar way other people have rights to discuss and critique whatever belief you make public.
Thanks for reading. Please, share your thoughts.
Nicely said! Well done. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this, and yes we should all believe what we want. Free Will.
Yea we should belief what we want. But, we shouldn't force people to respect it.
I never said force and that’s what Free Will means.
Oh, I understand your perspective better now. Thank you for dropping by @eaglespirit .
Yes :)
You’re welcome.
Oh, I understand your perspective better now. Thank you for dropping by @eaglespirit .
You’re welcome.
@udochi,
To me, "Respect" does not mean "compliance", nor does it mean "tolerate".
It simply, means "do as you please without affecting others" - especially me!
Namaste,
JaiChai
Respect in this case means "do not ridicule, taunt, or point out its flaws- just be passive".
Religion itself is a set of values with some 'methods' to practice it. If it is seemingly absurd to us, then it may be labeled as a cult. However, to those believers, they consider that as their religion. So there's no right and wrong, as they have the right to believe anything freely.
Not all of us are so open to discuss religion in a casual manner, as it may get a bit sensitive. To me, religion is something like our own moral value. It doesn't matter to others but only to ourselves. To put it perspective, I take moral and religion as something personal, like wearing an underwear (no offense). It is personal and not to be shown publicly. As long as I feel comfortable with it, that's it :)
Cheers.
Exactly my thought. Religion should be private, amd practised in your closet. You can't bring it to the public and not expect diverse reactions.
True, with those practice aside. I think most of the religions promote peace rather than chaos. It is just how those preachers interpret and preach to the people.
I disagree. You really need to check out the babaric things some 'holy books' pescribe. Not all religions promote peace. Some thrive on intolerance.
Well, we can’t deny existence of evil. We need to acknowledge it before we can do something about it. We may see it as barbaric but to them is holy. Perhaps, try to turn around and see how they think. And from there, we can really change their thoughts and how they perceive their holy book. Holy book needs some amendment :P times change.
Lol. True. Holy books need some ammendment. Times indeed change. Thanks for dropping by.
I do not believe that evil exists independently of people - and I think that's where religion get it wrong in thinking that evil is some being that controls "unbelievers/infidels".
Just a thought though.
Which religions do that?
I am trying not to mention names so it does not seem like a direct attack. But you can google, you'll see some of the horrible things some 'holy books' advocate.
Let me help out there:
-While some sects of Christianity advocates gay rights, other sects advocate death, imprisonment or special spiritual help for gay people. But the Christian Holy Bible permits death for people that engage in same sex relationships and bestiality.
-Both Christians and Muslims keep slaves, but Christians like to believe that they take "house helps", not slaves.
-Islam definitely advocates child marriage, stoning of women perceived to be adulterous, rebellious and disobedient. The Muslim Holy Quran also advocates subjugation of women and summary execution of infidels through Jihad.
Note: I only gave instances with Christianity and Islam because I am more familiar with them. Judaism is like a hybrid which has the characteristics of both Christianity and Islam. It is also true that both religious systems borrow from Judaism.
I think we should respect peoples believe truly, we should try to tolerate them but now there are some inhumane and unreasonable believes that cannot be accepted as a normal moral standard level dont you think?
Yea there are. That's why i advocate that beliefs be ridiculed, discussed and criticized.
Gbam!!
@abmakko , I'll love to hear your opinion.
The problem with discussing religion - any religion - is that it is based on dogma’s, things you have to accept, just because the religious leader of the religious book says they are true. This leaves little space for active discussion and argumental talk.
In my opinion, beliefs and religion are two different things, since religion has been created with the idea of power behind it.
(Gosh, this is a hard topic to discuss in a language that is different from your native language. :0/ I guess I’d better stop here, because there’s do much I want to say concerning this topic, but I’m probably going to use the wrong expressions and cross along the wrong feeling)
Why did you stop? I'll really love to hear evrything you have to say. I was enjoying it.
Lol, I get insecure talking about topics like this one in another language. Also, it’s hard to answer the questions you’ve put there, because there are a lot of contradictions in my head.
I was raised with the idea that tolerance was the most important value in the world. Just before she died, my mum Finally realized that there is a limit to being tolerant. Some things are simply unacceptable.
I do believe everyone has the right to believe what he or she wants, but like you say, those beliefs often include unacceptable things.
If every ‘believer’ would stick to the basics of his belief - the ones that existed before religion came along - the world would be a beautiful place to live in: peace, charity, respect, forgiveness ,... those are the basics of every single one of the biggest religions in this world.
But then there were some guys who thought they could empower themselves and become the ‘representative’ of those beliefs, tricking all those lost souls (I do believe you can only accept dogma’s when you’re lost or don’t know any better).
I agree that ‘you don’t respect my belief’ is indeed a sort of blackmail. Just like ‘you’re a racist’.
Those are sentences to hide behind if you don’t want - or can’t - have a rational disussion about things. Many people are so brainwashed, they can’t think for themselves anymore. If you confront them with the fact that some things simply don’t make sense, you’re actually taking away everything they stand for, everything they believe in, everything they áre.
There simply isn’t a good argument to give that explains killing gay people, stoning women etc...
it’s just what they’ve been taught. It’s ‘normal’ to them. Their grandpatents did it, their parebts do it... no questions asked.
And that’s exactly what I think makes religion dangerous: the ‘no questions asked’ part.
Wow. Nice statement you've put up here @simplymike . The fact that religion thrives on faith i.e acceptance without questioning, is enough to show how evasive it can be.
If you're a lady, I'd kiss you right now.
Apt!
My guts tell me that you have a lot of relevant information about the topic.
Please continue.
Of course it's not foolish to argue about religion, especially the absurd things most of them support.
The argument about religion is not stopping soon. What is sad about diverse religions and what the postulate is that, most of these beliefs are baseless and passed down myths.
I had this heated argument with someone on facebook and he drew the curtain with this is the belief that our forefathers passed down to us . Such dumbness!
Fact is this, everything is questionable, the argument is not ending soon.
Lol. In some parts of the world, the argument just got started. Gradually people would become woke, while the narrow minded ones would still be as dumb as ever.
I believe that one's religion should be respected as long as the person keeps his religion to himself.
Once a person begins to introduce his or her religion to public domain, it should be questioned, accessed, analysed, and criticized - and rightly so too.
Like you implied, religion is a form of philosophy that pleads to deity and morals. Every philosophy should be subjected to logical and rationalized practical criticisms - and rightly so too.
That's my opinion.
Thank you for your thoughtful remarks. Indeed, every religion made public should be subject to rational assessment.
:) its only polite to not speak of certain things
Even when they are really horrible, and babaric?