why do some people say nasty things about others beliefs?

Question

when you hold very strong beliefs yourself that means a lot to you .
why would you say one God is wrong and another right
why would you say that those who believe differently to you are evil or lost or anything negative at all
dont you realise that the hurt they feel when you say that is the hurt you would feel if it was said about you ?

please try and walk in their shoes a moment before commenting on their beliefs
you of all people should understand how much a persons beliefs matters and that it can hurt

this only applies to those from religions who make it their buisiness to judge others
because i know that not everyone does this

true for you rev ... not for everyone

candy with respect ... and i do understand
but you said you KNOW that it is a matter of life and death
you dont sweetie , you BELIEVE it is
and i believe differently , and we can state our beliefs and all is well
but it is definatly in the wording

Answer 1

Hello Pangel: :)

I have thought about this alot, and here is what I came up with:

Some people have very low self-esteem, they can't seem to believe in themselves. So they will find a path that allows them to put everything into someone else's hands (usually Chriatianity). There is nothing wrong with this, it helps some people to have faith in a god. They have a shoulder to lean on. But some people begin develope a kind of superiority complex, they project their own beliefs onto their god and equate their personal worth with the power that they perceive in their god. They begin to subconciously cast down any other deity that is different than their own so that they can perceive their's as the most powerful. Since they equate themselves with their god, they equate everyone else to their respective god(s). When they cast down the gods they also cast down the people.It is all a ploy to satisfy the ego, to make it feel like it is priviledged, like it is the best. Eventually they develope an "us versus them" mentality, and become extremely defensive and stubborn. They know that if they loose their belief then they will loose their confidence. In Buddhism, this is known as the Tiryag-Yoni state of mind.

Answer 2

I don't ridicule or disparage others beliefs because I understand that their world view is as important to them as mine is to me.

We should surely respect the beliefs of everyone, be they Christian, Jewish, Atheist, Wiccan or whatever.

As I think another answer stated above, we all like to think that we are right and see the truth - perhaps this says a lot about human nature.

There are also many - every belief system has them - who cannot respect others views and opinions and feel the need to bolster their own views by lambasting other peoples belief. Perhaps this also says something quite saddening about human nature.

I can't help but wonder how much more productive and joyful this world would be if we could all come together and enter into a positive dialogue on these issues - surely the world would be a better place for it.

Answer 3

I can only assume that people with strong religious beliefs believe that only by following their religion can you find redemption. So, they may say things that can be hurtful for two obvious reasons:

1) If you don't believe what you believe you will be damned to an eternity of suffering (or something along those lines) and they don't want you to be. What are hurt feelings compared to the risk of saying nothing and having you suffer foreverafter?
2) They feel so sure they are right it leaves them feeling superior. They are right and you are wrong so they are therefore better than you and your feelings are irrelevant.

In the first case, it's a kindness they are doing (cruel to be kind) and in the latter it's just being petty and cruel.

I'm sure there are other reasons too.

Answer 4

Religion is not only a Belief, but also a condition of geographical philosophy. this is to say... conditional on the prevailing theology of the geographical region you happen to be raised in. If you were born in, let's say... India... you would almost certainly be Hindu. If you were born in Iran, you would almost certainly be Muslim. In both cases YOU would be YOU. However your spiritual and theological beliefs would be different. No matter where you were raised, you would believe most fervently that which you were taught. Therefore if you were born in Iran you would espouse the teachings of Mohamad, and you would most likely reject any other teachings. The same would be true of India.
Since you were born in the US chances are you are a Christian, because that is the dominate religion within this geographical region of this planet. You no doubt believe the bible and reject the koran or the comma sutra? Anything you say about another religion would be construed as contrary to the other religion.

Answer 5

I believe the reason people say nasty things about other peoples relligions is because they are jealous of the fact that the person in question has found something in which they belive in beyond a doubt and the person just wishes they had some thing like that for them selves so they try to make others feel bad because they feel bad them selves like there is something missing in there hearts. That only partialy true, such as when a chriastian puts down a mormon they are not being christ-like, they should show the mormon that they are doing some thing that will lead them to hell. because in all truth the mormon religion is made up, they took the bible and made there book to pretty much just quote the bible because they could not come up with something orriginal, they could only try to make there religion like the only true religion.

Answer 6

Well the world would be at peace if we knew the answer to this and if all people were so easy going! I think its kind of what makes the world go around.
I personally let people believe what they want to, without judging or critisizing, but I always do wonder what the world would be like if everyone was like that?

Answer 7

some people are to ignorant to respect other peoples beliefs i believe you should believe in what you want to believe and respect others religion as you respect yours no religion is better than another at the end of the day everybody is doing the same thing but just in their own way

Answer 8

I would never belittle anyone's religious beliefs. They funny thing is, the same people who claim to a child of whomever, are the very ones who belittle others higher source.

Answer 9

nobody wants to root for the losing team!! lol

it's competition, "my god is better than your god"!

my parents did this all the time and it was annoying. he was Christian and she was Catholic, yet I went to both churches at some point of my life and always compared them to other faiths.

it's very rare to find people with an open-mind to accept all religions and ponder it's possibilities.

very good question by the way!

Answer 10

Because they don't understand,
Its easier for them,
They are so uncomfortable with themselves,
It should be live and let live.
No-one has the right to tell anyone else what to believe or think