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freerain,
is it the fear of being ignorant or being exposed as ignorant or just plain being ignorant (sans fear of it) that drives bigotry in general and religion-based bigotry specifically? Or is faith-based ignorance simply far more soothing to the collective?
posted by
saul_relative
on December 29, 2004 at 5:26 PM
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Freerain?
you should provide some infomation on who you are and what your background is ( and not just your educational background) in the ' About Me' section so that your readers can gain more insight on your writings and understand more fully your perspective.
Dont operate from the shadows if you wish to teach.
posted by
calmcantey75
on December 5, 2004 at 5:24 PM
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Children are such innocent humans
yet impressionable to those who want to pervert that innocense. To not have seen a "dark skinned" person until you were 16 shows the isolation you lived under, even within your faith. It was racism and bigotry with transformed Jesus from a brown skinned mediterainian Jew to a white skinned, blonde, blue-eyed, European. Once you fill the loving mind of a child with the gentle Jesus, and convey that it is through His love that you get to go to heaven, you unknowingly accept the rest of the story--full of elitism-- and that begets racism and bigotry. It's not hard to welcome someone's love into your heart, but then you are told that you are full of sin, your nature is corrupt and you need a hero to save you from this "fallen" state imputed on man long before you were born. To hold to the love you have for the humanity of Jesus, you accept salvation, there we get to the root of the matter, why fundalmentalists are full of fear of those who see that there isn't any need for salvation--we are what we are.
Thanks for the comments.
Fr
posted by
freerain
on December 5, 2004 at 12:18 PM
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Thank you Passionflower
for your comment, and I understand your analogy--religion is good for setting boundaries, for those who cannot make boundaries of responsibility for themselves--that is what makes AA so successful--When we are taught that our own abilities are weak and corrupt, that wisdom and knowlegde come from God, we are likely to not develope those innate traits on our own and become what we are told is "our nature." I've driven on many a dirt road and manage to stay on my side of the road--or move over if I see another car coming --that is self-preservation hard at work. Taking down the barriers that are imposed on us will likely find us being rational, self-determining, accepting of new ideas and ways of translating this experience with equal satisfaction, if not better, than keeping those barriers (boundaries) intact.
Thanks, again for the comment.
FR
posted by
freerain
on December 5, 2004 at 12:02 PM
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Good sense Pappy.
posted by
A_Norseman
on December 5, 2004 at 11:13 AM
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freerain
You are right that the association between religions as they are practiced and bigots who hate is very real. To blame religion for it, though, is not good logic. Bigots use whatever institutions they can to further their own purposes, not the other way around. It is true that millions have died in the name of their particular religion at the expense of others, but are WE responsible for THEM, or for ourselves?
posted by
pappy
on December 5, 2004 at 11:10 AM
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My comment back to you was.....
Freerain...I was considering inserting the implication
of religion in this post, but it was too vast a subject, it would need a post all its own. I don't think any religion is innocent of spreading bigotry, but neither do I think that all churches are guilty of supporting it. I honestly can't remember ever being encouraged to think badly of another human in my Sunday school classes. The message I got there that I remember was to do my best to be like Jesus...who loved everyone. "Red and yellow black and white, they are precious in his sight, Juesus loves the little children of the world." Are the lyrics of one song that comes to memory. Sadly, I think my little country church may have been an exception though. The KKK after all, use Christian scrpture to justify their hatred. Using passages out of context and bending reason itself until their purpose is met. Another underlying message of most religions is that all other religions are wrong...well, of course you are going to think the church you are a part of is right. Thats why you are a part of it, but there should be room for tolerance of the beliefs of others. These exclusionary beliefs often foster bogotry against others, because every one else in the world is unclean, on their way to hell...hard to get get too close to people if thats what you think of them. Many Christians forget that Jesus went into the brothels, he spoke to the thieves and the homeless. He loved them.
Thanks again for your comment freerain, and the compliment as well.
posted by
A_Norseman
on December 5, 2004 at 10:57 AM
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Your point is well taken and altogether true. But what are you going to do? The world needs religion the way it needs stripes on the roads. Without the stripes to divide the lanes, drivers will drive all over the place and that can cause accidents.
posted by
Passionflower
on December 5, 2004 at 10:42 AM
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