respect on ATS

We need alot more respect for each others Faiths on ATS
we have Jews Screeming Muslims and Christians will go to Hell
We have Christians Screeming Muslims will go to hell
we have a pagon who hates Muslims and Christians
and so on

you may not like the other persons Faith
but is it that hard to show respect for others?

if you cant show abit of respect is there any point in trying to talk to the other party?

Respect is one thing, but the reason you participate in such discussions is another.

In my opinion, there's really no point participating in a discussion regarding faith and religion if the participants are not in it to better understand where the other side is coming from. Failure to have that as a prerequisite will only result in belittling and/or name-calling. At that point it's kind of pointless and it's no longer a discussion -- more like petty bickering.

What a waste of time that is. Gives you something to do but doesn't achieve anything, really.

I completly agree. Star and flagged.

You have people trying to save others or condem others to hell and on the other side of the spectrum you have people accusing religious people of being weak willed and unintellegent.

We need to understand that we are all unique and we all have different beliefs. It doesn't mean we are a bad person, dumb or evil. We are just all unique.

reply to post by Beachcoma


Beach...having an open discussion and presenting your opinion is fine. That is not simply what is going on. There is a lot of disrespect and belittling going on in the religious forums.

People of different faiths will never get along. Of course there are christians that respect muslims and atheists and vice versa, but overall that doesn't happen. Never had and never will, even if only 1 religion remains there are enough branches within it to cause conflict.

Just get over it.

You could apply this reasoning to just about any discussion of any ideaology or belief system.
Muslims vs Christians
Liberals vs Conservatives
Truthers vs Debunkers
And so on and so on.
Religion and Politics probably generate the most passionate responses but i dont see much difference between most discussions on internet forums when there are two or more opposing points of view, the anonymous nature of the net gives debaters a feeling of empowerment to voice their opinions that they may not feel in RL.
In the end its all just pixels on a computer screen, if you cant get over that then i doubt you'll ever get any joy out of debating/discussion on the internet.
Having said all that it would be nice if we could all just get along, but thats a utopian pipe dream and has no chance of occuring in my life time. .

Sorry, I like the heated debates, the name calling, the passion, and the willingness to express oneself in a very direct manner. This is the spice that makes the thread/post exciting.

If everyone was nice, nice, I would be bored silly and would probably ignore the discussion no matter how poignant, articulate or timely.

I'm not sure this is appropriate but....

"If you cant run with the big dogs; stay on the porch"

reply to post by bodrul


I understand.
But we could apply this to anything.

Like the spellers screaming and the non-spellers.
The grammer police screaming at the ppl who txt.

Don't even get me started on those few who think they are soooooo much better than everyone else because to crunching out some binary code...

10001110101

~B

Originally posted by bodrul

we have a pagon who hates Muslims and Christians

Gee, I wonder why that would be? :shk::shk:

Agree completely, we could do much more here if we can take some of the passion and emotion that mant people show on this type of issues.

I myself since I got here have learned much and open my mind to certain issue that I was completely bias, once I took the emotion out of my arguements and I started to listen to fact,reason,logic and open my mind a little better, I was able to learn much more.

Star and Flagged!

Originally posted by bodrul
We need alot more respect for each others Faiths on ATS

Why won't you talk to gay people and why would you disown your gay son?

Oh right, because you "disagree" with it.

Your probably gonna respond "irrelevant" or something along those lines. Sorry I need to know this, if it wasn't for this, I may not have much of a problem with you.

You can disagree with it but saying you'd ditch friends if you found out they were gay, disown your son, and so on is very unnerving, and yeah you said it had nothing to do with religion; well okay, I don't know that, ether way...it's just you call for tolerance it just seems a bit off mind you.

we have Jews Screeming Muslims and Christians will go to Hell

Where? Because surely not in any of the forums I've been in; not in conspiracies in religions or this one, so point me towards it.

Oh, and WiseSheep is not Jewish, hes more of a "Jews for Jesus", apparently.

Yeah, if thats it, then he fooled me too with his avatar and whatnot. All the Jews I know don't believe in hell, they again they're reform. Well my Conservative Jewish friend doesn't believe in Hell, ether. So I don't know.

We have Christians Screeming Muslims will go to hell

Not just Muslims, but I agree.

we have a pagon who hates Muslims and Christians

I generally dislike the religions, due to proselytism, but I won't rule out someone as a friend based on they're faith.

In my defense, I consider runetang, Beachcoma, SpeakerOfTruth, and Leyla friends (off the top of my head)

you may not like the other persons Faith
but is it that hard to show respect for others?

It's hard to respect someone who says people who are your close friends should die.

Not referring to you, but that relatively new Muslim who joined, who was it, started with a K, whatever. I was with him in that one thread on most of his beliefs (besides proselytism and the religion itself), I was getting rather excited that Islam was not as bad as I thought, and I was right...not to the pristine point I might add, up until he got to the part about homosexuals having to be killed...

I find it hilarious how Muslims and Christians bicker amongst themselves, now to be honest it is usually the Christians here on ATS who are the attackers and the Muslims who are the defenders, but they're the majority; I've noticed the majority is usually more open to attacking like that, psychological backup. It happens not just on the internet, but in countries and communities all over the world.

And anyway, back to my point, what I find funny about Christians and Muslims bickering to each other, on the world's stage too, is that the Christians will see Muslims as blasphemers, etc, while the extremist Muslims will say the same back.

To a pagan like me, your both the same. You have so many similarities that both religions make no difference at all to me, in fact you out of all religions to me have the most similarities. What are those, you ask?

A) Belief that pagans/atheists will go to hell (mainstream, at least)

B) Proselytism, notice how both Christianity and Islam are the most widespread religions, mostly over formerly pagan cultures (I don't know much on the details of the Muslim expansion, I've heard things, but it's so hard to find an unbiased source on Islam on the internet, it's too the point where if the site is run by Christians I won't read it), but I know tons were killed in the Christian expansion, regardless, in both cases, my brethren were converted. It's still something that ticks me off, sorry, but it does.

C) Some of the worst potential for mis-interpretation and extremism, and general arrogance.

I'm just saying what comes to my mind, and I have ADHD and OCD and Bipolar disorder, so if any of you think I'm straying a little off topic...

I really don't care. Oh and in before "STOP USING YOUR DISORDERS AS AN EXCUSE etc etc"

I know that it's hard to stay objective when someone states a belief of theirs that seems way off balance to you such as a man saying that he would disown his own son if he were gay.

However there is still a way to voice your opposition without resorting to name calling or belittling them for that belief. You can say "I think that is wrong because" or "I would never do anything like that" and then give your reasons for why you feel the way you do on your side of the issue.

Name calling and being mean is fun sometimes, I will admit and I can understand if it slips in every once in awhile. But from what I am seeing, it's nearly all the time. Granted it is a fine line and what one finds offensive, another will not. But I think we can find some kind of common ground can't we?

Originally posted by Kacen
I'm just saying what comes to my mind, and I have ADHD and OCD and Bipolar disorder, so if any of you think I'm straying a little off topic...

Dude! You're nuttier than a fruitcake! Just kidding
Please don't hurt me

reply to post by bodrul


damn straight, star for you (like you need more of those on this post)

i don't understand hatred of a person based on their religion... but that might be because i grew up around people of all different faiths in a family that was quite progressive theologically (now we've ended up as 2 atheists and ...well, we aren't exactly sure what to call my mom's belief...or what she believes)

thinking about it, few of my friends have been fellow atheists. most of them are christians, some are jews, hindus, buddhists, a few pagans.. etc.

coexist...
and not just one a religious basis.

Originally posted by snowflake_obsidian
I know that it's hard to stay objective when someone states a belief of theirs that seems way off balance to you such as a man saying that he would disown his own son if he were gay.

However there is still a way to voice your opposition without resorting to name calling or belittling them for that belief. You can say "I think that is wrong because" or "I would never do anything like that" and then give your reasons for why you feel the way you do on your side of the issue.

Name calling and being mean is fun sometimes, I will admit and I can understand if it slips in every once in awhile. But from what I am seeing, it's nearly all the time. Granted it is a fine line and what one finds offensive, another will not. But I think we can find some kind of common ground can't we?

When did I resort to name calling?

I did not. Plain and simple.

I never said that you have resorted to name calling. I was responding to what you said about it being hard sometimes to hold back when you see people saying things like "I'd disown my son if he were gay"

And if I misunderstood you and that's not what you were saying at all, then I apologize.

reply to post by Beachcoma


Gosh - you seem a wee-bit out there ' don't we. Seems to me poly-wog when you strike, your still oly a poly-wog. YES? Sorry pronto..

Dallas

reply to post by Dallas


Say what?

Originally posted by Kacen

Originally posted by bodrul

We have Christians Screeming Muslims will go to hell

Not just Muslims, but I agree.

You agree that Muslims will go to hell? Correct. Give that man a prize.


Just kidding, I know what you mean. Seriously, there's nothing wrong with stating that as fact based on a Christian's interpetation of Scripture.

"I (Jesus) am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father, but by me".

Hopefully bodrul isn't asking us to give up the tenants of our faith. Personally I don't think there's anything wrong with stating that Muslims will go to hell. I know, muslims see this as a personal insult but that's their choice. If the shoe fits, wear it. Right? Part of the issue is that some people are insecure in their own faith. I don't take offense if a muslim said I would go to hell for not praying to Allah, because I believe Allah is a false, powerless god. If you believe otherwise, have a backbone and accept that others disagree. Don't take it personally. Lots of members here believe that Jesus is imaginary. I disagree with them but don't feel offended.

Respect, is a must. I always respect the other members here. Now their beliefs are another story. I don't intend to pansy-foot around other religions and I expect others to show me the same courtesy. If you disagree with my religion, please say so. You see, I don't bring my ego into the discussion so there's nothing for you to damage but my ideas. And ideas should be thrown to the lions and blasted with a tank. If it's a good idea, it will stand the test. If not, I should look into the matter more.

Now for the point where bodrul is correct. Do not disrupt a discussion with off topic comments about how their religion is wrong. If Muslims want a thread to discuss the necessity of a pilgrimage to Mecca, then don't interject on how Islam is wrong. If you look you'll see a topped thread in this forum that states my opinion on the matter. Moving Past Religion 101 and Staying on Topic. You should be able to start an indepth discussion without fear of derailment. It would really be nice if everyone here would allow this to happen. Otherwise, we'll just stay at square one forever.

[edit on 20-12-2007 by dbates]

reply to post by dbates


i think it's the "screaming" part that's the issue here. i'm quite sure that you can get the message across in a more restrained fasion