What can be done when religions and beliefs are publicly identified by their most extreme members?

Question

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Christians are identified with hell-fire & hate-speech.

Muslims are identified with terrorists & burkas.

Wiccans are identified as Satan worshipers and practitioners of black magic.

Atheists are identified as immoral or communist.

What can we do to cease seeing one another as the worst examples?

What can we do to present more beneficial and accepting selves to the pluralistic world?

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Answer 1

Very tough question to answer. For some reason people like 'stereotypes'. We label everything, and don't take the time to actually find out about the religion.

TV is a very powerful force that shapes the way we think, and often people simply beleive everything they read, see or hear.

Probably the only way to solve this is through education....the more Muslims stand up and denounce the terrorists, the more Wiccans come out against Satanism, the more Christians are perceived to be fair and just, the more atheist show that they are normal people with different beleifs, the better chance we all have of understanding.

The key is for us ech to individually to take control of our own beleifs, and to start to learn about different cultures and beleifs....one person at a time, we change the world!

Answer 2

This question really hits the spot of the modern world. The MEDIA (for the most part) exemplifies these religions through their most extreme members. These extreme members are people misguided and mislead from what the religion actually intends to teach, but the people of today (not everyone) are too ignorant to learn the truth, or even want to learn the truth about these religions/stereotypes and just want to accept what they see/hear on TV or radio as the truth. We cannot portray a religion based on the few who are misguided. However, we can educate the world and inform them about the truth, and zoom in on the other side of the story, not just the side that seems to be right, because you'd be surprised at what you hear if it is actually the truth. For example, terrorism in Islam is MUCH different and surprising than what the general public thinks. And Wiccan practices are also MUCH different than what they think. They are not evil Satan worshipping black-magic abusers, I've asked a lot of questions about them to clear this up. If anyone wants, they can look at some of the questions I asked. You'd be surprised at the answers! Now, I'm not saying there aren't extremist Islamic terrorists, and evil-doing Wiccans, but the numbers are so little that it should be insignificant to the rest of their populations. However, today, the few misguided ones are taken as properly-practicing members of a religion, when really most are not. Unfortunately, the world only sees the few that act in these ways and applies their actions to the rest of the group.. For example, lets say an Atheist (not trying to single you out) has strong beliefs, and hates all Christians. The general public is preprogrammed to assume that ALL Atheists are this way, when in reality it is actually the opposite.


Awesome question!! And good answer Simon!

Answer 3

Thinking critically about everything and everyone, would be a start.

For one, people are just too gullible to listen to what the media shows some groups to be.

People should question the media, and the info on the media and be critical.

Thats one example. Because I know very few people are actually Satan worshippers. Why? because in most cultures, satan is an evil being, they have no reason to worship an evil being. They just wanna have peaceful lives.

So yes, if I must repeat myself. We need to be a bit more critical and THINK before we: speak, act, judge, conclude, read, write etc.

Teach our children to be critical, to be ethical to be observational and knowledgeable and to shut up when they dont know anything.

I read a very good guide recently, was written by the critical thinking foundation. And I do agree a lot with what it said there. Because men and women who dont think critically, act egotistically, and then, form egotistical communities, who act on self preservation that likes to blame others and make THEMSELVES look good. This is the idea of mass conformity.

People should stop conforming and start thinking for themselves.

Answer 4

We live our lives as an example of our faith. Through our deeds we shall be known. It also helps when the moderate of each faith offers ways to educate those that want to learn. I'm not saying convert, but just educate on what each belief is so that it's not so secret and so people can understand.

Answer 5

1st of all, I'm proud of you for asking this question.
I believe we can fight this discrimination by being better examples, by acting honestly, by actually eneacting the good morals and tolerance/acceptance for diversity that we claim to respect. It can happen, if we never give up, if we keep spreading a message of non-violence, to those around us and our future, children.

Answer 6

It just means that there is some common ground in all those religions. We are global now, we should be proud of our heritage....let us not hurt others and let us speak out against those who actually do hurt others. By hurt, I mean physical.

Answer 7

Christians only do the hellfire speech to people who might need to learn about it.

Answer 8

"The truth is more complicated than is imagined in your philosophies." i bealive one day be free humans with out dogmas and teories

Answer 9

we can come together in this realisation and stand up for each other and correct these misconceptions

excellent question xx

Answer 10

We can transcend religion, and go straight for spirituality. Then it won't be about which one, just how much.