International day of tolerance - Today!

Spirituality Religion
#1

Thought it an appropriate place to share this!

And just some thoughts, from me. Feel free to share your own. No arguing please.

Each of us, whether it is due to parental guidance or an individual choice, has our own set of beliefs. Those beliefs guide us to be the best we can. We strive to be compassionate and kind, refrain from violence, study, read, worship (some), etc. Why do we do this? We all know there is more than what is right in front of us. The journey we are all on is a hard one. Filled with detours. But we all persevere and learn along the way. We do so in different ways, but we strive toward the same end. We believe what we do because, for us, it fits with our world view. Sometimes our view is narrow and this is where tolerance comes in. We try to understand religions from our personal point of view which has been groomed and nourished by our own religion or belief system. We only need to know that there are many religions out there, each with a different approach and path. Celebrate the person who is aiming to live a good life. That is a good step toward religious tolerance.

Remember, no debating, no arguing. Just post your own thoughts if you like.

#2

Of late I have felt myself falling more and more into negativity mostly due to the conversations I am getting into on various websites and I think I need to do what I have recently told others to do

Stop and breathe? and do some much needed zazen

Thank you for your post on tolerance I do believe I needed it

And for the record I do not see much difference between many of the major religions so I really do not understand why they are not more tolerant towards one another.

Now I am off to find someplace at work to be able to sit (zazen)

Namaste

#3

Lovely idea Lori, to create this thread and remind me and some of us here and there :smiley:

And goodness knows I need reminding after today!!!But not about religions, in this instance!

I dont have anything against different peoples religions, they all seem to speak the same basic thing…be nice,xxxxxxxxx

#4

It takes two to argue. I am simply going to state my viewpoint and if others post back disagreeing or criticising it, then you are arguing with me and you cannot expect me not to retort.

My viewpoint is very simple. You can only be tolerant of the right for others to hold any view that they wish, so as long as they don’t engage in violence against you. I am very tolerant of all isms, including racism and sexism. I do not deny an individual the right to hold an ism. However, what you cannot be tolerant of is the actual viewpoint itself. If that viewpoint contradicts your own, you are fully within your rights to argue against it.

The viewpoint that all religions are the same and teach the same goal is disgusting to my intellect because it is not true. Hinduism teaches some kind of self or god realization is the goal; Buddhism teaches absolute void/nothingness is the goal, and Christianity teaches that entering into heaven by passing judgement and worshipping god for eternity is the goal. Hinduism teaches reincarnation; Buddhism teaches no-self and Christianity teaches afterlife. They cannot all be true.

New age people expect you to just swallow uncritically the postmodern dogma that all are just opinions/viewpoints and nothing is more true than the other. They pretend this is an enlightened and loving attitude to have, and personally attack anybody who does not hold this attitude. To be honest they are just as dogmatic and fundamentalist as the member of any other religion.

#5

One thing they all have in common…BE NICE…simple… (not that im suggesting I am all the time, but I do try) xx and yes its okay to have an opinion and express it, I suppose its how it is expressed to the other person/people…Nicely or Not…and again , I am guilty of the latter at times…x

#6

Generally, it is true that all religions say be nice. However, a more complex view shows not all religions define niceness in other ways. In Islam being nice is about giving the other person the right to covert to their religion, othewise they are infidels, and their temples and idols should be destroyed. In Buddhism being nice is about letting everybody live and think as they want to. In Christianity being nice is about loving your neighbour, as long as your neighbour is not a pagan, otherwise they are heretics and condemned to eternal suffering and must be saved by preaching the message of Jesus to them by whatever means. In Hinduism being nice is about giving one the freedom to think, speak and act freely and to speak against ignorance, false ideas.

I am a nice person in that I have good will for all my fellow human beings and grant them the freedoms that I myself enjoy. I am also nice because I tell them the truth. I am a great friend to have because I will not hold back in telling you the truth. I am an objective judge. You could be my most loved one, but I can still rule against you in favour of my most unloved one, if I find their position to be more true. My real friends appreciate this quality in me. I have had great values taught installed in me from my religion. I am an Aryan.

#7

New age people expect you to just swallow uncritically the postmodern dogma that all are just opinions/viewpoints and nothing is more true than the other. They pretend this is an enlightened and loving attitude to have, and personally attack anybody who does not hold this attitude. To be honest they are just as dogmatic and fundamentalist as the member of any other religion.

You continue to find a way, don’t you? This is not nice and not appropriate in light of what the OP intended.

#8

Well Lotusgirl, let me tell you…SD was bored, he had run out of people responding to him in the ‘Is Buddhism a religion’ thread and had no where to go to rattle, so he slipped in here to rattle us New agers, and as he always tells the truth, he will have to admit this…isn’t this true SD,?.. I was up at crack of dawn and watched you emerging to dwindle into this state, fingers twitching, brain swirling, …what to do?..I know, lets go New ager bashing…this is the truth!

#9

Surya Deva

maybe you need to read this

[B][U]tolerance[/U][/B]

noun

  1. a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from one’s own; freedom from bigotry.
  2. a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward opinions and practices that differ from one’s own.
  3. interest in and concern for ideas, opinions, practices, etc., foreign to one’s own; a liberal, undogmatic viewpoint.
  4. the act or capacity of enduring; endurance: My tolerance of noise is limited.
  5. Medicine/Medical, Immunology .
    a. the power of enduring or resisting the action of a drug, poison, etc.: a tolerance to antibiotics.
    b. the lack of or low levels of immune response to transplanted tissue or other foreign substance that is normally immunogenic.
  6. Machinery .
    a. the permissible range of variation in a dimension of an object. Compare allowance def. 8 .
    b. the permissible variation of an object or objects in some characteristic such as hardness, weight, or quantity.
  7. Also called allowance. Coining . a permissible deviation in the fineness and weight of coin, owing to the difficulty of securing exact conformity to the standard prescribed by law.

And this

[QUOTE=lotusgirl;42759]Remember, no debating, no arguing. Just post your own thoughts if you like.[/QUOTE]

and lastly, Surya Deva, as much as this may come as a shock to you…it is not always all about you.

#10

We do so in different ways, but we strive toward the same end.

I’m not striving toward Nirvana.

I don’t think we’re all striving for the same thing.

I can be tolerant of others who believe differently, and I believe in “live and let live,” but that doesn’t mean I have to accept the premise that all paths lead to the same mountaintop. I have no desire to be one with an absolute unloving impersonal universe, but desire to live eternally in Heaven in a resurrected body, in communion with friends and family, eternally beholding the Beatific Vision, God, who loves each person as if he were the only person who exists.

Can you say that what I’m striving for is the same as what you’re striving for?

Or are you implying that though (from your perspective) I’ve embraced the error of Christianity, I will eventually find Nirvana too, and that’s what I’m really striving for, though I don’t realize it?

#11

Hi Lotusgirl,

Thanks for posting and reminding us. In South Africa everyday is an opportunity for tolerance and I think I am very privilegded to have reincarnated into these circumstances.

For me there is not a right or wrong religion or belief system, they are all just appropriate. I know there are people who belief that this way or that way is the right one and that one is wrong, but as I belief in reincarnation and karma there can only be appropriate for me. I belief that your karma guides you towards that which will be appropriate for you to evolve spiritually the most at that given point. So yes, according to some my Christian/Eastern mix of beliefs will be a cause of concern, but I only care for what is appropriate for me to evolve spiritually as fast and effective as possible.

#12

And Thomas, why are you being so angry in your response?

Did you read what I, the OP, put at the end? No arguing. All I wanted is for people to feel they had a SAFE place in which they could share their own beliefs WITHOUT ARGUMENT, QUESTIONS, DISCUSSION, CONDEMNATION, RIDICULE OR ANGER. I was not telling you you should believe as I do. You totally missed the whole idea of this. Thank you.

And thank you to both Thomas and Surya Deva for making this yet another place of turmoil.

#13

[QUOTE=thomas;42934]I’m not striving toward Nirvana.

I don’t think we’re all striving for the same thing.

I can be tolerant of others who believe differently, and I believe in “live and let live,” but that doesn’t mean I have to accept the premise that all paths lead to the same mountaintop. I have no desire to be one with an absolute unloving impersonal universe, but desire to live eternally in Heaven in a resurrected body, in communion with friends and family, eternally beholding the Beatific Vision, God, who loves each person as if he were the only person who exists.

Can you say that what I’m striving for is the same as what you’re striving for?

Or are you implying that though (from your perspective) I’ve embraced the error of Christianity, I will eventually find Nirvana too, and that’s what I’m really striving for, though I don’t realize it?[/QUOTE]

You have been trained well, grasshopper…

#14

[QUOTE=lotusgirl;42938]And Thomas, why are you being so angry in your response?

Did you read what I, the OP, put at the end? No arguing. All I wanted is for people to feel they had a SAFE place in which they could share their own beliefs WITHOUT ARGUMENT, QUESTIONS, DISCUSSION, CONDEMNATION, RIDICULE OR ANGER. I was not telling you you should believe as I do. You totally missed the whole idea of this. Thank you.

And thank you to both Thomas and Surya Deva for making this yet another place of turmoil.[/QUOTE]

I’m was not the slightest bit angry.

I asked a question about what you posted. I don’t see how we are striving for the same end if you want oneness with the universe, and I want to be one of many in Heaven. How do you reconcile these two different ends?

And I agree we should all be tolerant of what others believe, and should honor and respect the good intent of those who are seeking truth.

#15

Thomas,
Please read what I wrote again. I wanted no arguing. Just post YOUR OWN thoughts about tolerance. I will not debate or answer questions here. This should be a safe place to post thoughts about tolerance.

Thanks.

#16

I don’t see that asking for clarification is “arguing.”

My thoughts are that there are elements of goodness and truth in all religions, but that nobody will find salvation except through Jesus Christ, though because of ignorance and no fault of their own, they might might not know about Jesus and his Church, and because of their striving to walk in the light they’ve been given, they are striving to reach Christ, and he will save them because of their intent, and in spite of their errors.

Therefore, I tolerate all beliefs because I believe they can lead the believer to Chirist, if not in this world, then in the next, but that it is still my duty to share my faith and proclaim it, and bring others into the fullness of the truth that God intends for those in this earthy existence. But this sharing should be done with charity, respect, patience, and tolerance, since I know that I have much about me that needs to be tolerated, as I have many weaknesses and sins, and am not the best example of a Christian man.

#17

I have just had a vision…need to tell you…

I saw you Thomas with Surya Deva, you were wearing Football Shorts, Eaton Schoolboy caps turned side ways, adolescent big teeth look, with dribble, dirt on knees, runny noses and walking around kicking dust in your way…This was a powerful moment…maybe in the last lifetime… I wonder???

#18

Now that’s more like it Thomas. Thank you. If I replied, SD would chime in and tell me I’m wrong. I just don’t want the conflict. Sorry.

#19

[QUOTE=thomas;42944]I don’t see that asking for clarification is “arguing.”

My thoughts are that there are elements of goodness and truth in all religions, but that nobody will find salvation except through Jesus Christ, though because of ignorance and no fault of their own, they might might not know about Jesus and his Church, and because of their striving to walk in the light they’ve been given, they are striving to reach Christ, and he will save them because of their intent, and in spite of their errors.

Therefore, I tolerate all beliefs because I believe they can lead the believer to Chirist, if not in this world, then in the next, but that it is still my duty to share my faith and proclaim it, and bring others into the fullness of the truth that God intends for those in this earthy existence. But this sharing should be done with charity, respect, patience, and tolerance, since I know that I have much about me that needs to be tolerated, as I have many weaknesses and sins, and am not the best example of a Christian man.[/QUOTE]

Ahhh Thomas xxxxx