Yet another case of touchy religious people...
First, read this article.
Now stick with me as I go through tonight's rant...
Why is it that so many people who consider themselves "religious" have such problems with other people who consider themselves "religious?" It just doesn't make any sense to me.
I was raised Catholic (like so many other people I know) and saw it all the time. Heck, whenever I make any kind of offhand comment about Christianity in general I get "that" look from my grandmother (the last time I said something about Jesus being a hippie after looking at the religious kids' book she brought for my niece... hey, the dude has long hair, a beard and was surrounded by children and happy little animals on the cover... how can I pass that up?).
If any religious group out there should have a certain amount of tolerance for other religions, it should be Christianity... you know, with that whole tolerance thing being a BIG part of the religion. Oh wait... maybe I'm the only one that read that part of the New Testament--the one about turning the other cheek and doing unto others.
This is a problem I have with any religion that's based on the precept that "This is the only way to salvation." How unnatural is that? And why did so many Christians have to lock on to the few lines in the Bible that can be read as "You have to save EVERYONE around you" (even though that last book in the Bible, the one that so many tend to ignore unless they're preaching doom, says as clearly as anything that only a certain number of people will be saved and their names have already been picked)?
The article above also has what is possibly the most un-educated statement I've ever heard from a Christian (and that's saying a lot--I've known a lot of really dumb Bible-thumpers over the years).
Golen considers it offensive for her and other Christians to have to hear chants from a mosque. "I do not impose Jesus on them because He's quiet," the Hamtramck resident says. "Jesus calls in a quiet, gentle voice -- He doesn't have to blare over a PA system to call His followers.
Jesus is quiet? Tell that to all the pagans killed by the Holy Roman Empire. Or all the innocent people tortured at the hands of the Inquisition ("No one expects the Spanish Inquisition--Surprise is our greatest weapon!"--sorry, Python moment). Or all the native tribes that had their way of life suppressed in favor of a more "enlightened" and "civilised" religion.
Yeah. Jesus is quiet. I wish he'd speak up more often and set these people straight.
I'll accept that from your point of view the Muslim religion my be misguided (at best) or wrong (at worst), but a key part of their religion is the community worshiping together at the same time. That's what the call to prayer is all about. It gets everyone in the same mindset. And quite frankly, I'd have to say that's usually quite the positive mindset. (Most Muslims I've known are more tolerant and balanced in their worldview than a lot of Christians I've known.)
The article also says:
Some Muslims say the call to prayer is the equivalent of church bells. But opponents argue that church bells have no religious significance and that allowing the Arabic call, which lasts less than two minutes, unfairly elevates Islam above other religions.
How immature is that? They get called to prayer more than often than our church bells ring... it's not fair! Wah! Grow up... and you're going to honestly tell me that church bells have NO religious significance? My knowledge of catechism begs to differ. While the church bell may not be as nearly mandatory as the Muslim call to prayer, there most certainly IS religious significance. If there wasn't, why is it so darned important to have those bells ring before the mass? And we won't even mention all the bells that are rung inside at various points in the mass (at least in the Catholic church I went to).
It just irks me when I see stuff like this. It trivializes the whole topic of religion.
And did anyone else notice that there's no direct quotes from any Muslims? Just the minimized "Some Muslims say..." in the above quoted paragraph.
If this had come from anywhere other than an expectedly biased Christian news service, I'd be horrified.
It's partly because of people like the woman quoted in this article that I don't consider myself a Christian anymore.
Now stick with me as I go through tonight's rant...
Why is it that so many people who consider themselves "religious" have such problems with other people who consider themselves "religious?" It just doesn't make any sense to me.
I was raised Catholic (like so many other people I know) and saw it all the time. Heck, whenever I make any kind of offhand comment about Christianity in general I get "that" look from my grandmother (the last time I said something about Jesus being a hippie after looking at the religious kids' book she brought for my niece... hey, the dude has long hair, a beard and was surrounded by children and happy little animals on the cover... how can I pass that up?).
If any religious group out there should have a certain amount of tolerance for other religions, it should be Christianity... you know, with that whole tolerance thing being a BIG part of the religion. Oh wait... maybe I'm the only one that read that part of the New Testament--the one about turning the other cheek and doing unto others.
This is a problem I have with any religion that's based on the precept that "This is the only way to salvation." How unnatural is that? And why did so many Christians have to lock on to the few lines in the Bible that can be read as "You have to save EVERYONE around you" (even though that last book in the Bible, the one that so many tend to ignore unless they're preaching doom, says as clearly as anything that only a certain number of people will be saved and their names have already been picked)?
The article above also has what is possibly the most un-educated statement I've ever heard from a Christian (and that's saying a lot--I've known a lot of really dumb Bible-thumpers over the years).
Golen considers it offensive for her and other Christians to have to hear chants from a mosque. "I do not impose Jesus on them because He's quiet," the Hamtramck resident says. "Jesus calls in a quiet, gentle voice -- He doesn't have to blare over a PA system to call His followers.
Jesus is quiet? Tell that to all the pagans killed by the Holy Roman Empire. Or all the innocent people tortured at the hands of the Inquisition ("No one expects the Spanish Inquisition--Surprise is our greatest weapon!"--sorry, Python moment). Or all the native tribes that had their way of life suppressed in favor of a more "enlightened" and "civilised" religion.
Yeah. Jesus is quiet. I wish he'd speak up more often and set these people straight.
I'll accept that from your point of view the Muslim religion my be misguided (at best) or wrong (at worst), but a key part of their religion is the community worshiping together at the same time. That's what the call to prayer is all about. It gets everyone in the same mindset. And quite frankly, I'd have to say that's usually quite the positive mindset. (Most Muslims I've known are more tolerant and balanced in their worldview than a lot of Christians I've known.)
The article also says:
Some Muslims say the call to prayer is the equivalent of church bells. But opponents argue that church bells have no religious significance and that allowing the Arabic call, which lasts less than two minutes, unfairly elevates Islam above other religions.
How immature is that? They get called to prayer more than often than our church bells ring... it's not fair! Wah! Grow up... and you're going to honestly tell me that church bells have NO religious significance? My knowledge of catechism begs to differ. While the church bell may not be as nearly mandatory as the Muslim call to prayer, there most certainly IS religious significance. If there wasn't, why is it so darned important to have those bells ring before the mass? And we won't even mention all the bells that are rung inside at various points in the mass (at least in the Catholic church I went to).
It just irks me when I see stuff like this. It trivializes the whole topic of religion.
And did anyone else notice that there's no direct quotes from any Muslims? Just the minimized "Some Muslims say..." in the above quoted paragraph.
If this had come from anywhere other than an expectedly biased Christian news service, I'd be horrified.
It's partly because of people like the woman quoted in this article that I don't consider myself a Christian anymore.