Should religious belief be respected?

Question

In a recent question, someone suggested that the beliefs of Christians who claim that any scientific evidence that contradicts the bible should be rejected should be respected. What do you think of this? Should such beliefs be respected? Are there any consequences to society if they are/are not? This involved not just Christian beliefs, but all religious beliefs that go against provable, scientific reasoning.

Answer 1

No belief should automatically be entitled to respect.

Answer 2

I think that all view points should be mutually respected. No one is perfect and no one knows how this life will end. That being said, it does not mean that we should "respect" these Christian viewpoints so much that other scientific discoveries are not supported or investigated. I mean, at one point in time anyone who did not believe that the Earth was the center of the universe was persecuted by Christians, (big surprise- at one point or another Christians have persecuted everybody) Imagine the outcome if the Christians at that time prevented any further research into astronomy!
The funny thing is that many scientific discoveries that support the Bible, also support many other religious texts, so who is to say those discoveries are Christian at all? The same goes for scientific discoveries that are adverse to Christian beliefs.
Christian beliefs/ scientific evidence should not be the "be all end all" of the Universe, respect their beliefs and keep on pushing with research and discoveries.

Just my humble opinion.

Answer 3

You have to respect proof! Anything that can be proved beyond any doubt must be real. I am not religious and i respect every ones thoughts and feeling and try not to judge anyone. Proof is proof though and that goes beyond any belief(in my mind). As for consequences to society well that could be large or small depending on the issue. Lets take homosexuals as an example. If scientists found a gene that all homosexuals had that PROVED that homosexualism is not a choice made by a person but a genetic quality that they have wouldn't it be wrong to say they cannot marry of have the right to adopt children?? I don't know for sure but I could see that causing some societal issues. Just my opinon!

Answer 4

I would also add that ALL beliefs should be respected.

Why wouldn't you respect someone else's beliefs, even if it totally contradicted yours? When you are 'disbelieving' someone you are not only drawing negativity into your being, but you are making yourself right and someone else wrong - which is very limiting.

What is "common sense?" What is "rationality?" If a man came up to you and told you that a UFO landed in his back yard the night before; and the aliens came out and offered this man a stack of pancakes, and that once the man had taken the pancakes the aliens got into their ship and took off, would you believe him? If you wouldn't believe him, then why?

Is it that you don't BELIEVE that UFO's exist? Or maybe it's that you do believe in UFO's but you don't think that any alien civilization would be capable of deep space flight. Maybe you know this guy and he's always been a little off. But this is a BELIEF that you have - that the guy who got the pancakes is crazy.

But what if you're the crazy one for not believing HIM? Belief is the most powerful thing that exists in your brain. Ideas, concepts, opinions, judgements - they can't hold a candle to the power of belief. You can challenge a person's opinions - but try to challenge his beliefs - you could have a fight on your hands.

Thanks for listening.

FP

Answer 5

If a 40 year old man told you that you were being held to the earth by invisible purple goblins and that aliens are disguised as politicians you'd probably 1) ask him how he knows the invisible goblins are purple 2) think he's a nutcase or a crackhead. Is he wearing a tinfoil hat? That will help you differentiate. 3) call him a/an (insert vulgar, demeaning title) So, if a 40 year old man told you that there is an invisible gray bearded old man in space that impregnated a chick without having sex and knows and sees everything you, even when you are on the toilet, what then would you do? This is the hypocrisy of people. Religion is not above criticism. And just because someone has made such an ideal a central theme in their life, doesn't make them above ridicule. People should be called out evenly in their idiocy. Religion is no exception. In short, believing in god makes you an idiot. There you have it.

Answer 6

Sometimes. Rarely.

I am an atheist, and can respect religious belief that is based on personal revelation - i.e. belief based on evidence and reason. In my experience, this is quite rare among theists; the vast majority of theists are theists because they were taught this as children, or they believe the text or church leaders.

I find it very hard to respect beliefs that are primarily based on faith. I can respect these people, without respecting their beliefs. Many people of faith are uneducated or brainwashed, which is often not their fault.

People whose belief in god(s) is based solely on faith are called fideists. Because they need not provide any justification for their beliefs, some philosophers have argued that fideists' belief systems should not be respected. Some even think that a fideist's form of theism does not actually constitute belief because it is virtually mindless; this is a kind of definitional argument, which says belief must include some element of knowledge and reason. Some think that fideists are insincere believers, or fakes, like Pascal.

Theists who reject evidence that conflicts with their faith should not be respected. They have closed their minds. They need to learn how to learn.

The mass-delusion of theism has had terrible consequences to society. And as such, being respectful and silent about these delusions is simply wrong. We all, as humans, have a duty to address this problem.

Some examples:
- The catholic church teaches that contraception is bad because god says so. This has killed countless millions as a result of STDs.
- The US President stops embryonic stem cell research because it destroys zygots (days old clumps of cells) that were otherwise headed for destruction anyway.
- We have suicide bombers, wars, crusades, cruelty, ignorance... all fueled by, if not caused by, irrational religious beliefs.

Answer 7

There should be tolerance for beliefs that so not harm or hinder others, but I wouldn't say all beliefs should be respected.

What if I practiced an ancient religion that belief in human sacrifice and cannibalism...should that be respected? Should you just nod and say "I'm ok with that."

Respecting all beliefs is very dangerous.

Toleration is something else. For example, tolerating the displays at Christmas should be done. Tolerating a Muslim congressman to take the oath on the Koran should be tolerated. Religious or non-religious expression should be tolerated.

To say we want information removed to suit us - evidence contradicting the Bible, removing "in God we Trust" on the currency, replacing Merry Christmas signs with Happy Holidays, etc, etc...is totally ridiculous.

Tolerance for free expression of all beliefs - - not the removable of other people's expression to suit your beliefs.

~ Eric Putkonen

Answer 8

FAITH is the beginning of BELIEF. "Religious" is a word I stay away from because a person can be "religious" about many things. One could be "religious" about exercising every day, but what has that to do with your question? Faith, belief, reasoning, are all relative and specific to each individual person. I think ALL people should be respected for their beliefs, allowing everyone
the choice of what to believe. I may not agree with what a person might say he or she believes, but it is not my place to tell them what I think they should believe. You just can't argue about God vs science, because there is no "right" answer to many of the questions. As individuals, we all have the right to our own beliefs, whether they hold to any scientific reasoning or not. Our faith based beliefs and our knowledge of scientific information need not to be in total agreement, because there are some things in this world that defy any reason at all. I happen to believe in God as the Almighty Creator of the Universe, and of all things that we know and see, as well as, those things we cannot see, but we know of their existance. It's the old, "You can't see the wind, but you know it's there because you feel it." Well, you can feel some- thing within yourself and believe what you feel, but scientifically your thoughts or beliefs can't be seen by others, but that doesn't mean they don't exist for you. How God chose to create any particular thing is of no consequence to me, because I live by faith. Do I believe it is scientifically possible for a man, Jonah,
in the Bible, to live in the belly of a big fish for three days, and then be spewed out from the fishs' mouth, alive, onto dry land? I don't believe science would say yes to that question, but I have no problem with it, because I believe God very well could have done that, because can do what He chooses and He could make that happen if He wanted. Then, there is the other side, that doesn't mean that HE really did this, , because some people believe that this is nothing but a story, passed down through the ages, to make a point. It's all about being obedient to God when you feel Him "tell" you what He wants you to do. The truth I know is that God can do anything. I hope this makes some sense to you. Myself, I know that GOD is all powerful, all knowing, and ever present. I'm not sure this even answers your question, but I hope it will give you something to think about and investigate on your own. Just think of it....God
created men to become scientists, so I don't think He worries about what science might discover, because whatever it might be, He made that, too. God will take care of any consequences to society, as well. --"And the wheel goes 'round."--

Answer 9

I think that religion should be respected.. however... if there is scientific proof that something is different than the christian belief system to bad.

I think all scientific proof should be put out there and let the screamers tell how wrong it is. If nothing else it could come up with some interesting debates.

Answer 10

Generally every religious beliefs should be respected...but i think that people have the right to know the truth...I'm from the Catholic belief...and sometimes I think that they hide things..certain information that maybe doesn't match with what the bible say or what they want us to believe. They confuse me sometimes.. I mean don't get me wrong I do believe in God and I always will believe in him! But people wrote the bible even though they were inspired by God...they could have left certain information out...things that maybe they didn't want us to know...Personally I'm very interested in scientific evidence....but no matter what I will always believe in God...it's just certain stories that I don't believe in. But I do think that the society have the right to know the truth...and then everyone can evaluate for them selves what they think and what they want to believe..and what they want to continue to believe....

Answer 11

Religious belief should always be respected as much as my non-belief in religions. Respect goes both ways. Arrogance and ignorance and ego are the biggest barriers to such respect, which also causes people to take everything and themselves WAY too seriously.

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