Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Religious Tolerance

On the morning news, I hear that an old man was beaten and robbed outside his church on Christmas Eve. Reporters interview the church-goers and the Father and this is what they have to say:
"I think the man who did this needs the most healing. So I hope something good comes to him."

"Love thy enemy. Sometimes it's hard. But I feel like we are doing a good job."
Religious people drive me crazy. The tolerance some of them impart is so selective that they'd rather forgive criminals than accept gay people who have never hurt anybody. So let me get this straight, if I beat an elderly man with a baseball bat, I should receive "something good" (ooh pray for an iPhone). But if I make out with a boy, I should die of a terminal illness (and then rot in hell).

I was watching 17 Kids and Counting, the terrifying show about the Duggar family that, as of Dec 18, 2008, consists of 18 kids. They also insist on having all their kids' names start with the letter J. This causes a great deal of confusion, I imagine. Especially since one of their daughters is named JoyAnna and another is named Johannah.

But on top of being regular crazy, they are also religious crazy (two occurrences which I am sure are related). In one episode, they take their kids to a biblical museum where they learn that the Earth is 6,000 years old. Please. Barbara Walters is at least twice that age. When asked about their beliefs, they just giggle and give nonsensical answers about the bible saying this and that.

It's like they suspend logic so they can live their lives based on the vague teachings of a book, which I personally believe to be a collection of short stories. How can they have so much trust and so much faith in something that they can only see with their hearts? They may live in blissful ignorance but it's an insult to human intelligence to not make any attempt at seeking the truth.


I guess I'm just bitter about all of this. Even a cold-hearted person who commits a crime outside a church can elicit warm-hearted sympathy. But if a gay person were to try to get married inside a church, well, God hates fags.

Merry Christmas

8 comments:

Aek said...

I understand where you're coming from. Creationist Bible museums make me sick to my stomach. Religion is a curious thing.

There are a few studies that seem to show that the more one believes in science the less one believes in religion, and vice versa. An interestingly antagonistic relationship (but, both lines must cross somewhere).

Anonymous said...

I wrote on a similar topic not long ago.

http://www.7particles.com/jdyates/?p=143

Hish said...

I'm pretty sure the old man would be very forgiving to you or any other gay too... right after you go through a church 'gay-to-straight' program and marry a girl and stay closeted forever :)

Anonymous said...

I love it when you rant.

Less Confused said...

I have actually toured the Creation Museum and I find their philosophy laughable. They have nothing to back up their theories and the stretches they make even by biblical stories are unreal. I don't understand how such "smart" people can't see that much of evolution and creationism is one and the same, but that's a different topic.

There was a section about the future in there about how bleak the future looks and one of their highlighted pieces about the sins of the future was gay marriage. I nearly vomited.

But I guess seeing how closed minded they are about everything else in the past, present and future, their vision for the bleak future shouldn't have surprised me.

Regarding the old man and the beating outside of the church, what I find funny is if you ask these people about loving thy neighbor even if they're gay, they will admit to praying for them or loving them, but only from a distance. Isn't the point of Christianity to love one another? Do unto others? I guess my religious teachings must have all been wrong. Silly 'ol me.

Anonymous said...

once, this Christian said to a Buddhist like me " believing in Buddha is stupid" :O

D. said...

very good point.

stupid hypocrites don't know love when they see it (for ex, in a loving, long term same-sex relationship) yet some claim to be "all-loving". fucking bullshit.

Barbara Walters (though I am a fan of her), is at least more than twice the age of Earth's creationism age.

ps: anna - probably something to do with the rule of only believing in their god and no other spiritual being. ugh..

BUT... not ALL christians are like this. i'm actually fortunate enough to have met a couple who actually understand what christianity and the bible are about.

ok this is turning into a very long comment so i'll stop here.

happy new year!

Dan said...

You bring up a lot of good points about religious tolerance. Unfortunately, I have a cousin who happens to be one of these religious fanatics. He gave me a lecture on how "dinosaurs aren't real" and how "fossils were put on Earth by Satan to sway our belief in God."

Those Duggar kids scare me tbh. I recall that in one episode, one of the female children was showing off her poster of lightning striking a tree. She then went on to explain that she couldn't wait for the end of the world so she could personally witness God's awesome wrath.....