Should all religions be respected and tolerated?

Question

in your opinion, are there any who are (by their nature) dangerous to mankind?

Answer 1

There is no group of people that should be judged by others with in the group.

People should not be judged by a religion.

Would you ask if Christians are good people when the majority of people in the United States that commit crimes are christian. My guess is that you would not.

Yet the majority of the time you will hear a Muslim did this or a Muslim did that. But you will not hear that a Christian man robed the bank today or a group of Christian teens took part in a car jacking killing a pregnant woman.

Personally I am a Muslim and I can say that all the Muslim brothers and sister that I know have committed no crimes. I teach my children to not only obey the laws of God but also the laws of the city, state and the United States in which we all live in peace.

Muslim does not equal terrorist
Christian does not equal good
African American does not equal gang banger or basketball star
Mexican does not equal lazy
Asian does not equal doctor or scientist

can these people do these things, yes. But so can anyone else

Answer 2

This is the Wiccan rede: and it harm none, do what thou wilt.

I think that a religion, or a person, that sets out to cause harm is dangerous, and that sure religions and people are in violation of this very basic rede. Something or someone that causes deliberate harm does not, in my opinion have to be tolerated or respected. Of course, one person's definition of "harm" might not be everyone's.

Some room for common sense is a good idea here. A religion that held sacred the notion of burning, torturing and slaughtering innocent women, children and men for no reason other than intolerance might be considered suspect.

Why does that sound strangely familiar, fellow wiccans....?

Lest we forget.

Blessings,
Lady Morgana

Answer 3

I do not believe respect and religion fit together. Everyone has the right to choose their religion, and that right should be respected. Tolerance is shown in behaviors that deserve respect. It's the people that create the disrespect due to the behavior displayed within the religion. If a religion has a true doctrine that creates disrespectful behavior then disrespect is shown. It all starts with the heart of the believer.

Answer 4

All religions should be 'given practical freedom', but if they harm other religions or atheists through their actions through belief (depends on the situation) then they must be questioned. Usually, the religions hardly promote any evil which harms the neighbouring society but people are the ones who use the alibi of religious beliefs to get revenge or just to cause trouble. Such people may be Taliban, Religious Riots and so on. Please bear, Islam is completely free of the evils some Muslims practice. If you look into its teachings it is peaceful and soul-contending in all aspects (society, spirituality and business and beyond). Then again, there is female infanticide and suttee in a Hindu society and perhaps other 'disturbing' elements within a religion - but if the good old women and men have decided to follow this religion then all we can do is preach. We have no right to force them out of a religion or belief. Then comes respect. You shouldn't condemn someone's religion 24/7 or act mean to someone just because he/she is a Christian, Muslim or Sikh or Whatever. You can preach, and insult at moral and intellectual grounds, hate within your heart (if you must) but be a good human being and be a helping hand to all.

Answer 5

It depends on your definition of religion, but I will assume for the sake of logic that you are talking about the worlds major religions.

All the worlds major religions http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_world_religions.

Yes, all the worlds major religions should be respected; each has their own original wisdom and almost all share the greater truths that effect mankind as a whole, and each person as an individual. They should also be respected for what they do for public relations and local communities. Also for what they can do for people seeking guidance and support.

As for the second question.

Throughout history humanity has been guided by two things, imagination and accumalated beliefs. By accumalated beliefs I mean the beliefs that are common and popular amongst the masses of any particular culture, thus forming a religion. Now of course in the modern world we find ourselves in societies of mixed faiths, however if you want to look at the tangible effects that each religion has over cultures, nations, and communities you have to realize that religion plays a significant role in polictics. If you take a look at the relations that each nation has to the other you will see that those that are of close relation have the same cultural belief system know as religion.

The Western World: Christianity

The Middle East: Islam, Judaism

The Eastern World: Hinduism, Buddhism, Chinese Traditional

The history of war is the history of religion, wheather it be between seperate religions or between two seperate groups within a religion.

Note: Both World Wars were not of this nature.

This is where the controversy starts. Understand that this is my own subjective and honest opinion and is in no way intended to influence anyones personel beliefs.

The more I think about politics and religion the more it seems that the eastern and western worlds are conjoined in a vandetta against the middle east, contary to popular belief. I know that there have been terrorist attacks against both halves of the world made supposedly by middle east groups. I am not going to get into any conspiracy theories, all I am saying is that it seems very compelling to believe that the unified governments of the world have allied against the middle east to accomplish their own intentions. In order to do this, because we live in a more conscious global society, the goverments would have to convince their people that their is a justifiable reason for going to war.

This history of war between Christianity and Islam goes back to the crusades. For a better perspective I would suggest the movie "Kingdom of Heaven". Both of these entities have fought numerous wars between themselves, this is human nature, but when it comes to epic proportions war is fought between two different cultures. Again, both World Wars are an exception.

My point is that if you look at history you can see that Christianity is the aggravator in almost every major war ever fought after its own conception. Therefore in my own logical, subjective belief I would say that christianity is the most dangerous religion to mankind.

As I write this I am wearing a crucifix around my neck. Why? Because I have read the new testament and I have great faith in the "prophet" Jesus who told the world about truth and righteousness, who preached to the poor, to the sinners, and to the masses. Who gave his own life in love and faith. I am not saying that the religions of the world are to blame for our circumstances on Earth, it is the hierarchy of the world that uses our own faith and beliefs to use us like pawns.

Can't you see, they are using the not so secret tactic of devide and conquer.

Just as the Old and New Testaments of the bible say, just as the Quran says; faith, love and understanding is the word of God.

Answer 6

No. Religion is not like your race or height. You do choose your religion as you get older, most people are lazy and do not do any real searching on their own and merely accept what they have been taught. I do not see any reason why religion should be accepted in the face of how absurd many of them are. I do NOT want to hire somebody who lacks any sort of critical reasoning skills, and don't feel I should be made to. I consider muslims to be a hatefull nasty bunch and to force me to tolerate them is in my opinion no different than forcing me to tolerate a Nazi who claims he believes in the fundamentals of the Nazi regime but he he isn't hard-core into it and doesn't like the Nazi's who want to kill jews. So no, I do not believe all religions should be respected or tolerated any more than any other outdated and useless beliefs such as racism or bloodletting should still be accepted in society today.

Answer 7

Tolerated, but religions do not have to have any more respect than does a political opinion, an ethical argument, or a food preference for Pork Rinds. No idea deserves a pass on criticism for irrationality.

^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^

Answer 8

I think all religions should be respected and tolerated but only to the extent that they believe the gods of every other religion to be false.

Answer 9

All should be tolerated. We should respect a persons right to choose their beliefs. All in extreme have the potential to be dangerous, like anything in life.

Answer 10

No, all religions should not be respected or tolerated.

Particularly not the monotheistic ones who preach that theres is the only truth and everyone who believes anything else is evil and deserves eternal torment. That makes for a dangerous religion that deserves no respect or tolerance.