Does all faith deserve respect?

Question

If your faith leads you to subjugate women or blow up innocent people for the cause, does that faith deserve the same respect as the faith of the Dalai Lama (for example)?

Answer 1

Deserve is a funny word. I don't believe that I have to respect every faith. I can't speak for everyone, but I don't respect people who promote violence, ask people for money, or rape young people. I don't know, I might be wrong though. I will say this, I'm not going to believe that every faith deserves respect.

Answer 2

No, it does not. It demands reform, and I hope the moderates reform it. Not all of them do it, but the traditional party does. I want to see the day when they are ousted (though it looks like they're gaining ground :( ).

I don't believe we should hold all ideas on an equal footing. Should we, then, give the same respect to Adolf Hitler that we give to the Dalai Lama? Very few of us would do that, and rightly so. I find the ethics and morals in saying "yes" to this abominable and yet another symptom of the ridiculous level of emphasis we place on "tolerance" and "multiculturalism."

There is good and evil, and I firmly believe that preaching and practicing murder is evil. I'll not roll this over for even "Christian" groups like the KKK. I'll not give ground for theocrats over a moderately secular government. These sorts of things touch on the very fabric of the dignity of a human being, and I will never bend the knee to tolerance to such a point that I consider murder on an equal footing with peace. To the extent that a faith advocates harming another person I also believe it has lost the rights of respect. If it wants to be rigid, but peacefully rigid, then I'll respect it in that area. The minute it picks up a weapon, it has taken one of the fastest routes to lose any claim to respect.

Answer 3

This is a very difficult question to answer. For many the short answer would be "no" simply due to the fact that one faith can be harmful, or even go completely against the ideals of another persons faith. In essence the only definition of right and wrong is derived from what any particular person believes.
My personal beliefs include that no other human has the right to hurt another without just cause against that particular person. I.E. suicide bombings or random shootings are an appalling idea to me.
However, just because someone else may have a completely different set of ideals than myself does not mean they shouldn't be respected. For an example of this I would suggest a poisonous snake. A snake who bites a man and kills him even though the man had no intent to harm the snake or intrude into his territory. The snake believed that what it was doing was the best course of action.
Human beings are the product of this same instinct, we only like to think that we are above the animals due to the level of conscious thought that we are capable of.
I personally would kill a man if it is in defense of my loved ones or even those who he would kill to make his point. However, in the case of a suicide bomber, I would still respect him. How many of us would actually give our lives for our beliefs and freedoms that we take for granted every day?

Answer 4

All faiths deserve to be respected by everyone. No faith actually leads people to subjugate others or blow up people. People do many things in the name of their faith, but it is their own personal interpretation of their beliefs that lead them to do that. Christians have been waging war, in the name of their God for centuries. In the name of God, priests were subjugating the native Americans, forcing them to convert to Christianity -- or else. The Bible does not teach that, but many Christians believe that it is what God wants.

Answer 5

The only faiths that deserve respect are those faiths that also respect other faiths and do not harm or subjugate their followers.

Answer 6

All faiths should be respected, no matter what the extremists do. The only people killing other people for their religion, are the minorities and zealots. The faith itself should be respected, not the weirdos who go about subjugating women and blowing up innocents.

Hope this helps
-Just a guy looking for solutions

Answer 7

No faith deserve respect! Because faith is not based on facts! Faith is base on beliefs! And anyone can believe in anything! A rock,Idols,any nonsense! I respect facts prove to me what you believe in! Give me some tangible evidence! Earn my repect/faith! Or leave it alone! Your in the wrong time zone!

Answer 8

Any person's right to do and believe as they wish ends once it interferes with another's right to do and believe as they wish.

To use your example, the belief that women should be subjugated and innocents blown up is all well and good, and even the practices of such are acceptable, as long as there is consent all around.

Answer 9

I think all faith deserves respect. Just because there are a few bad apples in every group doesn't mean we should overgeneralize people. We are all still individuals trying to do the best that we can and we all have our parts to play. Christians killed many women in the past because they thought or suspected them of being witches. No religion is spotless. Good luck to you in your life moving forward!

Answer 10

I would not call that Faith, but a man made rule of convenience. If your belief causes harm to innocent people or harm to others, then you can safely disregard that as faith. Faith does not supersede human dignity.