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Religion See other Religion Articles Title: Keeping the Faith: Religious diversity threatened by intolerance No matter how exclusive your religious beliefs, if you want to continue to enjoy religious freedoms you have to respect the rights of others. Certainly no group is exempt from the possibility of unprovoked attack, but it is only logical that the one who flouts the rights of others will soon be subject to recompense. Christians are being slaughtered in South India not because they offended their attackers themselves, but because they are seen as members of a culture of abuse and oppression that Hindus remember from decades past. Good Hindu men were murdered, their women raped and their children beaten by British colonists under the blasphemed name of the Christian God. The perpetrators were never punished for their crimes but their grandchildren are killed every day for being associated with the philosophy that was used to justify their atrocities. These are the results of blind rejection of religious freedom. Many Americans have voiced displeasure with Obama’s acknowledgement of our country’s diversity during his inaugural address. He said, “We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus and nonbelievers.” But some wish he had stopped after the first six words. Apart from being ridiculous simply for its air of fruitless denial, the call for a mono-faith nation implicit in this objection is a marker for future destruction. I ask these opponents of constitutional freedom of religion, “are you prepared to risk the rights of your prosperity?” Exclusive beliefs can be elegant and well-reasoned – exclusivity in itself is not the problem. The issue is not even really with the lack of recognition of the equally logical natures of different philosophies. The fact that some American Christians are willing to risk their own rights by attacking the liberty of others is the most troublesome meaning of the conflict. Perhaps they are unaware of world events and basic human reason that they believe their overextension of their faith to smother others will go unpunished? History has shown time and time again that abused peoples will not long stand for mistreatment and that the purveyors of ideas that sow inequality do not go unpunished. Surely, we are thankful enough to God for the protection we enjoy to keep from speaking against the very basis of our freedom to worship. If we reject the rights of others, we have no love for justice if we expect our own freedom to survive. Whether one faith is more correct than another is of little importance when human rights are in danger, for when there is no one left to believe the truth it will not matter that the last was lost to the anger of the people he disgraced. KEEPING THE FAITH is a column about religion and philosophy that seeks to open constructive discussion about our most important beliefs. It appears every Thursday.
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#2. To: ferret mike (#0)
The good and decent people in your family die young and yet a POS Traitor like you keeps on wasting resources. Go figure
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