Agreeing to disagree we ain't!

[petite_lambda]

joreth has just written a passionate essay about why everything I said here was bullshit.

Dear me. I think I'm about to cry!

Or, you know, not.

Actually, I'm really surprised by my feelings on this -- usually, I would really want to argue, I'd spend hours writing wordy replies and exchanging ideas, involving other people into the discussion, trying to learn

Comments

[petite_lambda]

Well, I can actually kind of understand her point on that. Sometimes disagreement is not just a disagreement -- if ethical issues are involved, disagreeing with someone can indeed mean that you apriori don't respect that person. For example, some people believe that homosexuals should not be allowed to marry or adopt. I don't just disagree with that belief, I also think it's shitty, and a person who believes that would not be my friend. So that's where she's coming from.

[petite_lambda]

You're right! I take that back.

But that reminds me of this video. You probably could say that the pastor in this story honestly believed that this child's fantasies were actually causing bad things to happen to his family, as punishment from God for him thinking about boys. So the pastor wasn't bad -- just very, very misinformed... Right?

[petite_lambda]

I'm not sure. It's tough.
Btw, why do you call him bad? Suppose he sincerely believes that crap. I thought that's what separates the bad from the misinformed for you, no?

[petite_lambda]

But isn't his motivation understandable, given his faulty beliefs? If homosexual behaviour really causes suffering for everyone, then shouldn't such behaviour indeed be intolerable by society?
For this pastor, it's the same as sermons against stealing, for example. He believes that stealing is harmful to society, so he preaches that thieves should be shunned by the community, punished for their deeds, and tries to scare thieves into not stealing anymore. And we wouldn't call him a bad person for that, right? So what's the difference?

Sorry for the offtopic, I'm just curious what you think...

[petite_lambda]

BTW , what your userpic means in context of this discussion , why did you switched to it?

Nothing in particular, sorry! Vague connection. I just love OOTS, I guess :-)