Re: Whoa, Stu! Watch where you are flinging the paint! A critique and welcome. -- Adilbrand Noblesword's Hall of Warriors

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Date Posted: 15:50:34 03/07/04 Sun
Author: stu
Subject: Re: Whoa, Stu! Watch where you are flinging the paint! A critique and welcome.
In reply to: Mt. healthy mountaineer 's message, "Whoa, Stu! Watch where you are flinging the paint! A critique and welcome." on 12:44:13 03/06/04 Sat

Thanks for the welcome, but this will be my last post. This board is too restrictive. I respect the right of the person who runs the site to limit debate, but I do not understand this decision.

In order to respond to your post, I will simply have to talk about religion - as was the case in my last post where I was told that only weak-minded people are atheists.

Christianity is an institution and an institution has a certain uniformity that defines it as such. I am not lumping Christians together; they have done this themselves. Now, there are, of course, exceptions. There are those people who read the bible and interpret it for themselves on a personal level. But you cannot deny the institution. (I will acknowledge the argument that only denominations are institutions. There is a Gay Christian church in my town. Yes, I paint with a broad brush. However, sometimes dwelling on small exceptions can obscure the reality rather than clarify it. When Bush talks about faith based initiatives, he is talking about "Christain values," not Methodist values, [or whatever his denomination is] and it is these Christian values that the Christians in this country respond to. "We, as Christians, believe ... - hence, the institution of Christianity.)

One of the main tenents of Christianity is that non-christians will go to hell. That seems pretty exclusionary to me. Religious belief is irrational and this kind of belief inevitably leads to evangelism, elitism, and division. Would you not agree that most Christians in this country feel that homosexuality is a sin? Doesn't it follow that this general view will encourage intolerance? To consider a person's sexuality sinful is to denegrate the humanity of that person. This creates an atmosphere in which the rights of homosexuals are denied or are simply not protected and in which it becomes easier for those that would perpetrate violence against gays to justify their actions. Remember, my generalizations were directed toward an institution. This institution is made up of individuals - but there is a difference between condemning the man and condemning the institution to which he belongs. You are right; I made a generality about a group. But groups are generalities.

Once again, I am sorry I broke the rules. I said earlier that excluding religion from the conversation was fine with me. I changed my mind. It is such an integral part of so many issues. How can you talk about gay marriage without talking about religion? How can you talk about the conflict between east and west without including religion? The answer is inadequately.

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Replies:

Re: Whoa, Stu! I think you misunderstood -- Adilbrand, 10:40:16 03/09/04 Tue
- Re: Whoa, Stu! I think you misunderstood -- stu, 17:47:55 03/14/04 Sun