Another's Religion

[monk222]

♠
“We must respect the other fellow's religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart.”

-- H. L. Mencken

We certainly should not bow down to another's religion to the extent that we allow him to dictate how to dress our wives or what we can write without being blasphemous, nor should we conform our science to their ancient texts, nor limit our reproductive rights by their lights, and on and on.

Got this quote from the Andrew Sullivan blog.

xXx

Comments

[hardblue.livejournal.com]

I haven't read his work or read of him, myself. Looking around a little at Amazon.com, I was amused by this excerpt of a review (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195072383/ref=sib_rdr_dp/104-9838587-3813565?%5Fencoding=UTF8&me=ATVPDKIKX0DER&no=283155&st=books&n=283155):

In fact, the only one of the recent biographers really to press the notion that Mencken is a figure whose time has come (or, more accurately, returned) is Terry Teachout, author of The Skeptic (2002), which asserted that Mencken was politically conservative and that conservatives are in the ascendancy today. The particular species of conservatism that now holds the nation in its grasp, however, owes few debts to Mencken. The man was no fan of what we now call the "red states." On the contrary: He savagely derided the same backwoods civilization that so many conservative writers now embrace in order to establish their regular-guy bona fides. Mencken revered science and lambasted religion; his favorite put-downs, usually applied to the inhabitants of deepest Arkansas or Tennessee, were words like "moron," "idiot" and "yokel." His conservatism was that of Nietzsche, not George Wallace, and one can only speculate wistfully about the kind of destruction he would have visited on such excreta as the Left Behind novels or "The O'Reilly Factor."

Heh.

[wordlesswriter.livejournal.com]

just wondering, what is your thesis on?
and I know how you feel about longing for pleasurable relaxing just for fun reading!!!!

[wordlesswriter.livejournal.com]

Hmmm....I feel really stupid now because I have no clue what your talking about. basicly, I don't get politics. my brother is a libertarian, he'd more then likily understand that.
as for the quote, it certainly makes me wonder about myself, being a human service magor I wonder if I really just want to rule the world after all. ;)
(that was meant to be funny)
what are you magoring in that you would write your thesis on that? It sounds really deep and political. as well as being timely...I've heard about, though don't fully grasp the concepts, of what your talking about.

[wordlesswriter.livejournal.com]

so...basicly your thesis would be a philosophical approach to a modren goverment issue? that sounds intresting.
Philosophy is very intresting. I don't read as much of it as I should. considering pshycology is a mix of Philosophy and science.
I'm so not looking forward to having to do a thesis. but seeing as I'm still working on my AS I have a while still to worry about it.

[wordlesswriter.livejournal.com]

love both the qoats!!

[hardblue.livejournal.com]

Hey, the second statement is mine! I got the Menchen quote from Sullivan.

Thanks! :p

[wordlesswriter.livejournal.com]

I figured the second quote was your's, sounded like you. I still liked it.

[antilapsarian.livejournal.com]

We certainly should not bow down to another's religion to the extent that we allow him to dictate how to dress our wives or what we can write without being blasphemous, nor should we conform our science to their ancient texts, nor limit our reproductive rights by their lights, and on and on.

Of course, the problem though is that we cannot, vice versa, dictate to him...how to dress, tell him to conform to our science, etc..

I think, by respect for the beliefs of others, what we mean--or should mean--is that while we do not have to hold them ourselves we try our best to make room for them to do the same.

[hardblue.livejournal.com]

We aren't blowing up infidels and passing death sentences for wrongful beliefs.

[wordlesswriter.livejournal.com]

not in our courts, persay. but recently here in florida there was a murder. a hate crime. someone was killed, and another hurt simply becuase of someones dating habits. it is not a legal action but it was still, in my eyes someone passing a death sentence on someone else in the name of belief.

[hardblue.livejournal.com]

But I trust you wouldn't say that there is some kind of moral equivalence between us and these theocratically driven mideast societies. We may not be perfect, but we are surely much more advanced in terms of religious pluralism. The issue of drawing moral equivalences, as Antilapsarian is wont to do, is an ongoing issue with us.

[antilapsarian.livejournal.com]

Not blowing up infidels or passing death sentences for non-belief is hardly the end goal though. Just because there are other factors at work preventing these doesn't mean there isn't a deep hatred still at the core.

I think we have to move beyond mere tolerance of others and into the territory of outright respect, too. And no waiting around to get it first, either. People need to be a lot more willing to give it without regard to it "being earned" if we are to have a future.

[hardblue.livejournal.com]

Not blowing up infidels or passing death sentences for non-belief is hardly the end goal though.

It would be glorious if some societies could just achieve that. It would even mean the end of the War on Terror. And we could then constructively go about addressing all our issues and conflicts.

[antilapsarian.livejournal.com]

As I told wordlesswriter, the future of humanity could be at stake. But yes, hopefully it does mean addressing all our issues and conflicts constructively eventually. Not to say we're going to live in some utopia or perfect society ever...but so much of the intolerance and violence in the world just stems from a basic lack of respect for others.

[wordlesswriter.livejournal.com]

.:nods in agreement:. the only problem though is there are so many people out there who's entire belief evolves around forceing their beliefs on others. And no matter how much we believe it is wrong to force them to see our way of thinking they will continue with their own actions.
It's sad.
perhapes I am just feeling so pessimsitic about the world ever evolving to a higher, more open and accepting way of thinking after the movie I saw in class today. But truely I wish the world would embrasse that line of thinking.
.:heavy sigh:.
I just wonder, alot, how do we get to that point. the point that we as humans can learn to have tolarence for each other. for it has to be done on a global scale.

[antilapsarian.livejournal.com]

Agreed. I've said in other conversations, too, that this is where we are free to put limits on the actions of others is when it interferes with our own right to live and believe as we wish.

I think there is certainly a lot of clarification to do, too, on where one person's fist ends and another's nose begins...to use the old free speech metaphor.

But as I told Monk, I think we have to move beyond even "tolerance" towards respect for each other. And that will be a difficult task on a global scale, but the future of humanity could be at stake.

[wordlesswriter.livejournal.com]

you have a point. I truely believe that showing someone respect is the best way to earn respect. unfortunatly, there are to many people who feel they deserve respect without giving it in return.
ugh, I could drive myself nuts running in a circle here...trying to figure out where the balance comes in.