Question for/about religious folks...?
I see lots of clashes between religious and non-religious people (and the occasional troll) here on Yahoo answers, so I thought I'd chime in (even though I probably shouldn't). Here we go, this is going to get really overly-wordy and probably pretty pretentious...sorry.
Now, I was raised as an atheist by two wonderful atheist parents in a mostly atheist community. I wasn't exposed to religion at all until I was maybe 12 years old, and the first time I witnessed a church service it was WEIRD, man. I don't have the background to have a very good understanding of how religious faith works (that is, the kind of faith that is tied directly to a, like, fully structured religion). As I got into my 20s I started to recognize a natural sense of something like gratitude for the world, and I noticed a kind of inner guide for how to live. Like, a sort of light from within. My first taste of what religious faith might feel like. I'd begun to appreciate the presence of some kind of "God," if you like.
I've come to believe that it's up to each individual person to define his/her relationship with this presence (I'm using the word "presence" only because I can't think of a better one, I don't mean to imply the presence of the Christian or any other God, and I don't mean to exclude anyone's God. It's the same feeling of a connection to something greater, whether that is with nature, the ghosts of your ancestors, or a man in the sky). I don't believe that anyone is wrong in his/her decision to follow any particular religious faith. It's up to each person to do as he/she will and to strive to do the right thing. Everyone deserves respect and deserves the freedom to follow his/her own path. The fact that I'm an atheist, and define my spiritual connection as being with humanity and life rather than a Creator-God, should not infringe on Latif's right to practice and believe in Islam, or John's to practice and believe in Catholicism, and I'm certainly not going to try to tell either of them that they're wrong.
My question is: Why is it so common for some religious people to hold such deep mistrust for people outside of their own belief structure, to the point of actively hating them? I know that not every religious person is guilty of this, but it really seems more common among deeply religious folks than non-religious folks. Like the whole "homosexuality is evil" and "atheists are the devil's minions" and "Muslims are all terrorists" thing. Is this kind of hate taught by the church? Why do these people feel so threatened, and how did they come to believe these things? It seems like the majority of religious teaching, in any organized religion I know of, is about tolerance and love, not "I'm right and you're wrong." How did some people come to hate so deeply under the banner of a faith that preaches acceptance and respect, and how are they allowed by their religions to do so? Are sensible religious people as upset about this as the non-religious people I know? Am I being naive?
Let me just cover myself here and say that I don't mean to make any generalizations or attacks on any religious individuals. Of course there are people of all backgrounds who actively hate, and of course there are tolerant religious people, but there really seems to be a correlation between strong religious belief and practiced hate. Am I getting the wrong impression? Or is my idea of how religious people feel and think flawed from the ground up?
Answers & Comments
Verified answer
Unfortunately, your perception is much closer to accurate than most 'religious' people would dare to admit.
Any belief system has one or more defining points that isolate/separate it from other belief systems. How people use/abuse/react to these defining points is what you are seeing - so please, do not confuse the responses of humanity with the underlying tenets of their belief. People make mistakes every day which they are not aware within themselves to be mistakes - this does not invalidate the tenets of their beliefs, it only validates their humanity.
As a fundamental element of most belief systems, an element outside of the individual is discovered/uncovered/learned of by that individual, causing an internal need to embark on a 'quest for truth'. This, if you will, is the source of 'religion'. To be clear, a functionally accurate definition for 'religion' might be 'man's attempt to reach out to and understand his god'. That does not mean that 'religion' is the end of the journey - it is only a point on the path.
I was raised in a Catholic home, and by age 6 I was cognoscente of the overwhelming hypocrisy of 'religion'. My quest did not end, though. Clear reasoning pointed to a truth outside of myself that I had not yet found, and 19 years later I came to understand that the core of that truth was found in seeking a relationship with that 'presence' on His terms, since He was clearly more learned than I (as demonstrated in the creation of which I am a part!)
Clearly there is faulty reasoning and tainted interpretation on every aspect of these types of discussions, so examine evidence for yourself and come to your own conclusions. If you earnestly seek truth, it will always reveal itself in time.
I think it's very sad that if someone does not have faith they would want others to agree with them!
The mystery's of faith an GOD are beyond human comprehension.
Faith concerns questions which cannot be settled by evidence.
How can the universe create itself out of nothingness? Given the fact that the universe began to exist, it must have had a “cause” that originated it.Doesn't it make more sense to assume the existence of a Creation.
You can't see the wind, but you know it is there because you can see what the wind is doing. You can know that the wind is there because you can feel it.God is like the wind, you can't see him.
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I'm a Christian who is really loose about things, so I don't do the "hate" thing. In a meeting of my school's Bible Club, I became extremely uncomfortable because the whole club, excluding me, started saying...hateful things, for lack of a better word, about homosexuals. To me, it seemed like they did not ACTUALLY hate them, but more like they were very sad about their sinning. This one girl actually said something life, "I try and pray for them, but it's not working. It makes me so sad to see them sinning and knowing they're going to hell for it." They then went on to talk about how the Bible says to stone homosexuals and they sort of gave the approving this feel.
Anyways, I think the reason why they're so hateful is actually because of how civilization worked when the Bible was written. During that time, stoning people and such things were not rare activities and, because it is in the Bible, people seem to think it is okay to do such things. They tend to forget that Jesus is forgiving and accepting of my bi-sexual Catholic friend. They focus on the sin that they are doing when, really, they should be focusing on introducing them to the goodness of The Lord.
These people can be Christians, but even a Christian sins. Nobody but The Lord is perfect. So, while these Christians rant in hate, they are sinning. But don't think all of them are like that. Some may seem like they hate them, but are actually just very sad for them and want them to stop sinning so blatantly. Yet, I do believe the Bible says homosexuality is just as bad as cheating on a spouse, or having sexual intercourse before you are married. We're going to need a lot more stones if we follow through with every single punishment the Bible says.
They're focusing on the Old Testament, not the New.
EDIT: Also, "Middle Of Some Talibrating" (apologies if misspelled and not putting words in his/her mouth) is right about that as well. Some of it is just old-fashioned beliefs of society passed from generation to generation. We are still in the time these ideas are being put into question and some people just are not ready for the change.
Its not the religion that makes the man, rather the people who brought up the man. When hate and prejudice is carved into your flesh since the day you were born is allowed to grow, it becomes almost too deep-seated to remove.
Personally I don't hate religion, any one of them. I just want their views out of the general society and state. Especially my face.