Caution: Religious Content - Finally someone gets it right

[Nathans_Dad]

P-o-P you are correct. There is a double standard. I find it interesting that people think that someone should not bring their religious ideas and convictions to the table when they are elected into office, yet they are EXPECTED to bring their ideas on homosexuality, abortion, feminism, etc, etc, etc to the table.

Would anyone tell Barney Frank he shouldn't be looking at gay issues in government?

[Porsche-O-Phile]

They should ALL be non-issues, IMHO. They distract from the REAL issues that actually matter to the country and to the future of our society and potentially, to the future survival of our species. Pretty high stakes to be passed over in favor of momentary "American Idol" type distractors, huh?

I guess sometimes we humans are our own worst enemies.

[IROC]

Originally posted by Jeff Higgins
None will quite piss people off as fast as religion, though. I wonder why. I really do find that kind of weird.

I have often wondered about this also. I used to share a cube with a guy who was a believer. He used to get very upset during our conversations regarding religion (since I didn't agree with him). It was almost as if he took it personally. I finally realized that he does.

I think the religious belief - unlike being an engineer, hunter, fisherman, etc. - is such an emotional thing that people get very touchy when someone else doesn't see things their way. I saw two *Christians* arguing with each other (very heatedly) not long ago because they didn't see some aspect of Christianity the same.

You could get very emotional about the parallel axis theorem, but in the end you haven't devoted your life to the study of calculating area moments of inertia like you have the study of Christianity. You don't view your moral values as a function of one-twelfth B times H cubed.

The reason that people get so emotional about religion is that they have *alot* vested in it. It is something that has been with them all of their lives. It is what defines the world around them. When someone else questions that, feelings get hurt.

That's my two cents.

Mike

[Jeff Higgins]

I can see that with the "believers", Mike. Geez, I do see it all the time. Tell a Catholic the Pope is the anti-Christ and they seem to get all upset. Tell the Mormons that Joseph Smith plagerized the Book of Mormon from a stolen fictional work, and they seem to get all upset. I don't get it.

That's not what I'm talking about, though. It's the reaction of non-believers whenever a Christian mentions his religion. I can bring up, say, the latest news story about a child molester stalking the local kindergarten playgrounds and get no more than a "yeah, what a sick bastard. Hope they catch him. How about those Seahawks?" Bring up my beliefs, however, and I get anything from a polite "no thanks" to a long-winded diatribe about what ass holes we all are, to damn near fisticuffs, to a co-worker threatening to to turn me into the Human Resources department for violating his right to never hear that in the workplace. The mere mention of my beliefs seems to send people into a tizzy at times, like nothing else I can think of. There are guys I would get less of a reaction from if I asked to bang their daughters. I just don't get it.

[Nathans_Dad]

I agree they both should be non-issues, P-o-P, but the fact of the matter is they ARE issues and they are issues our society has chosen to deal with very differently.

If you tell a Christian you'd rather he/she keep their Christian beliefs to themselves and out of the office no one bats an eye. If you tell a homosexual to do the same you are fired.

IROC, all groups are emotionally invested in their causes. You will see the exact same response from hard core liberals debating politics (duh, take a look at this forum), or hard core conservatives or hard core libertarians, or gays, or minorities, or feminists, etc, etc, etc. It doesn't only apply to Christians. The difference is that society has said it's ok to tell a Christian to shut up, but you better not dream of telling any of the other groups to shut up, lest you infringe on their freedom of speech.

[turbo6bar]

You guys must work in whacked places, because I rarely discuss religion or politics anywhere else but here, and I've never met a homosexual person who openly discusses his adventures on the range.

[IROC]

Originally posted by Jeff Higgins
That's not what I'm talking about, though. It's the reaction of non-believers whenever a Christian mentions his religion. I can bring up, say, the latest news story about a child molester stalking the local kindergarten playgrounds and get no more than a "yeah, what a sick bastard. Hope they catch him. How about those Seahawks?" Bring up my beliefs, however, and I get anything from a polite "no thanks" to a long-winded diatribe about what ass holes we all are, to damn near fisticuffs, to a co-worker threatening to to turn me into the Human Resources department for violating his right to never hear that in the workplace. The mere mention of my beliefs seems to send people into a tizzy at times, like nothing else I can think of. There are guys I would get less of a reaction from if I asked to bang their daughters. I just don't get it.

Well, I don't understand the adverse reaction to you stating your beliefs for sure. You guys have to keep in mind that I live in the Bible Belt and things are probably different here. People here at work openly and freely discuss their religious beliefs - often. I would be stoned to death if I brought up the fact that I am an atheist.

I told a guy once that I accepted the theory of evolution and you would have thought I had asked to bang his daughter. I'm not kidding. You should have seen the jaws drop.

The long-winded diatribes in this part of the world are pro-belief, I assure you. I work at a facility of approximately 2000 people and I know of no one else that shares my lack of belief. Around here, if you don't believe you keep it to yourself.

And Rick - it has always been my experience that the people that get the most upset about having their beliefs questioned (whether they be religious or scientific, etc) are those who are the most insecure in that belief. I don't hold any emotional attachment to things I believe to be true.

Mike

[Jeff Higgins]

I live in the exact opposite environment, Mike. The Seattle area is one of the lowest in church membership in the nation, if not the lowest. Dare mention religion at all in most places, and risk being forever labelled as some unsophisticated hick. It's just not trendy here. Unless, of course, it happens to be Muslim, Hindu, Wican, or anything other than Christianity. Then you are "enlightened".

[IROC]

Interesting. Here, the police have to direct traffic on Sunday mornings due to the huge volume of church goers everywhere. Heck, we do our grocery shopping, etc. on Sunday mornings because stores like Target are *empty*.

Mike