Yes and No.
A hostile person is one who is antagonistic in action, thought or principle. Am I antagonistic in action, thought or principle towards all religions? No. Am I antagonistic in action, thought or principle towards some religions? Yes.
I have a number of friends and acquaintances who have all kinds of spiritual and religious beliefs. Do I think some of their beliefs and practices are strange? Sure. But, their beliefs are theirs and they have every right to practice them. I am indifferent towards their beliefs.
For these friends and acquaintances spirituality and religion is personal. They have no desire to convert other people or argue about whose religion is the “true” religion.
For the most part, they live according to the Live and Let Live maxim. I would be an arrogant fool to be hostile towards this kind of religion. I know that religion and spirituality serves a purpose for many people. They benefit from their beliefs and practices and many of them find meaning, purpose, and direction through their religion.
However, there IS a kind of religion I AM hostile towards. Religions that try to convert. Religions that purport to KNOW the truth. Religions who say they are the one, true religion. Religions that invade the lives of others and attempt to force others to believe like they believe. Religions that divide people into groups…saved/lost, believer/unbeliever. Religions that tout their Holy Book as a divine message from their God. Religions that kill, rape, steal, and pillage to advance their cause. Religions that try to engender social strife to advance their cause. Religions that try to brainwash children at an early age, be it at home or in the school. Religions that stir up hatred towards others all because of who and what they are
Yes, these kind of religions I am hostile towards. I make no apology for this. I see the hurt and damage done by these religions; I see the oppression and control, how can I, as a reasoning, caring man, NOT be hostile towards these religions?
Bruce, which religions are you talking about? You know which ones. They are not hard to spot. You don’t need a lot of schooling to know which religions fit the above description.
If their religions are so wonderful, why must they always start with what wretched awful sinners we are that do not deserve God’s love.
No thank you. I do not want to be bound by their laws and regulations.
Yes– as the ‘Four Spiritual Laws’ liked to say that ‘God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life’, except that he actually hates you and requires a blood sacrifice or he’s sending you to Hell for eternity. (Unconditional love demands some really strange things.) Then to keep god from punishing you in this life you need to follow whatever bronze age commandments are currently in fashion.
I’m all right with people’s beliefs until they pull the “but I’m a Christian” card. Nine out of ten times, it’s used to shut down a conversation or to beat you over the head with the superiority of their opinion/position. That I have no tolerance for that kind of lazy thinking, or that kind of manipulation. And that’s what it is. They are supposed to be “special”, and they are usually put out if we refuse to recognize their “specialness” and treat them accordingly.
I had this happen to me a few months ago. A cousin of mine hunted me down on FB. When my dad died back in January, I saw her a couple of times, and she was happy to see us, etc., etc., etc. Fine. I know she’s religious, and that’s all right, too. As you said, it’s her business. However, within a few weeks, I posted an article on FB about the whole deal of insurance being mandated to cover birth control. Of course, within seconds, she had to comment “but I’m a Christian and this is a Christian nation”. I politely responded that that had nothing to do with this piece of policy, and any way, she’s not the type of Christian who doesn’t believe in birth control. Used it herself, as she only had two children. Well, she flew off the handle at me, told me that she wasn’t going to argue with me on FB and defriended me. Fine with me. Perfect example of what I was talking about…she deliberately picked a fight with me over this topic, so she could rub her religious beliefs in my face, and then be offended because i refused to bow down and kiss her behind and, of course, change my mind. And to top it off, she had to shift the blame to me!
I got news that an old friend had had a heart attack and that he was in hospital slowly recovering. This was on FaceBook, so of course everyone was offering their prayers on his behalf. Three years ago my wife, a very, very fit woman, had a massive stroke that left her in a coma. While she is more than willing to give credit in her recovery to spiritual forces, she wouldn’t have survived without the absolutely cutting-edge medical science that helped her through the thousand mortal hazards. Last night, taking a break, I of course stopped by your site and saw this piece. And I had a kind of vision: what if all of the money we spend on divisive, reactionary, archaic religion, all the tithes, all the missions, all of the busses, all of the pretty buildings, all of the outfits, were used for medical research? Prayer is surely the most extravagant and expensive treatment there is in terms of cost-effectiveness, by a factor of a billion to one, when you consider its infrastructural costs. And it’s not just that the money is misplaced, the whole system is an aggressive ignorance tax that science must continually pay to the past, and almost every gain must negotiate the Scylla and Charybdis of religious self-righteousness and demand of adherence to some idiotic interpretation of life that follows from inerrancy. Of course the very inquisitors are first in line to avail themselves of the science when the medical need arises, and now work actively to deny such help to impoverished children. Let us recognize where true compassion lies.
Very well stated. It is hard to imagine what sort of medical progress we would have if we spent that money on research and treatment. The pastors would not necessarily have to be unemployed, they could still find work in counseling and assisting the ill.
You see, YOU have a compassionate heart, to have concern for the pastors. This is the point, every positive statement about “God” is really a statement about the potential for compassion in our own hearts. Let’s get over the scarecrow and embrace our own compassion and work for the better world we deeply desire.
As I read your comment I thought, if only.
I have debated with numerous Christians over the years about this very thing. Show me the money. Jesus said, where your treasure is there will your heart be. How we use our “treasure” reveals what we think is important.
Every church should take a hard look at their budget. Where is the money going? After buildings, salaries, programs, utilities, denominational assessments, etc, etc, etc…what is left? Most churches actually spend a very small part of their budget on things that matter.
Do we need seven Christian churches within 1 block to 5 miles from my house? Seven buildings, seven pastors, seven of everything to minister to a few hundred people. Such a waste, and quite frankly it shows the bankruptcy of modern, Western, American Christianity.
Feed the hungry, help the poor, give drink to the thirsty, help widows and orphans, care for the sick, visit those in prison. Where are the churches who makes these things the most important thing they do, where the bulk of their money goes?
I gave up on my church when I saw in their budget that they had raised 3 million for renovations and only a few thousand (might have been 150K) for “outreach.” It’s a large and wealthy church, obviously, and it hit me that with 3 mil, they could help out all the homeless and hungry families in our town!
Bruce,
Generally agree but keep in mind that a particular political group of atheists has killed 100 million non-combatants since 1915 or so. Evil is well distributed.
Your friend,
bill
I doubt there are many killings that happen just because someone is an atheist. Atheism has no belief system, no political ideology. It is simply the rejection of belief in the existence of deities.
The same can not be said for Christianity. I am not aware of any government that went to war because they believed deities didn’t exist. The same can not be said for Christian governments who have killed millions in the name of their God, even believing their God told them to do so. George W Bush is a recent example of this.
I hope no one brings up Hitler. It is embarrassing when Christians do. Hitler was not an atheist.
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I’m really out of place here… And I thought that tolerance for all people hurting from church abuse was what this blog site was about…. But it isn’t… It’s about bashing anyone who is even remotely Christian over the head with your hostility… I mentioned in a different post how much I have struggled with different people over the years in churches… I have been so hurt, i thought i could never recover…. EVER!! I thought i Could also be open and honest and tell you that I have since started going back to church, I even offered my friendship, but because I go to church, I can’t possibly qualify as a friend…. Here is the other side of your coin Bruce…. You are no different than any other hypocrite in my miserable life… Christian or nay…. you have been hurt, you say Christians and God let you down coz they don’t exist…. I accepted you and I understand your angst… But because I dare to let it known i still claim Jesus I am not going to benefit you or your hate mission here on this blog… Why don’t you just tell us all here WHAT EXACTLY IT IS THAT YOU FIND SO HATEWORTHY ABOUT ME? Yes I take it personally because I thought in spite of our differences we could support each other because believe it or not we have a lot in common… Peace out…
My interest was NOT to evangelise you or try to convert you…. I don’t answer for you, I only answer for myself… Do whatever you want, but you are exactly what you hate in yourself… You are the very hypocrite you hate… Only you are now an atheist hypocrite instead of a “Christian” one….go ahead and block me if you wish… Just shows you don’t accept people from all walks of life as you claim to. Ergo…. Hypocrite
Here is my last comment to you:
Thank you for sharing your story. It adds an important perspective to this subject.
If I can be of help, please let me know.
I have no idea what you are responding to or even who you are responding to. Even on this post, no such reaction to what I have written is warranted.
SO, perhaps you can fill me in to what the hell you are talking about. I have said nothing to you directly or in a post to warrant this kind of response.
Bruce
Bruce, I did leave a reply to this, but it didn’t come through… So I’ll try again….Basically the gist of it is this… I am absolutely sick of being hurt by people in general… Or people trying to control me or my actions…It makes no difference what their creed… Christian, non Christian, atheist, pagan, etc… It’s just human nature for people to hurt people, and to control them… I took your above blog post personally, & after re-reading it today, I have no idea why… I don’t have a desire to evangelise you, so I shouldn’t feel threatened or judged by you… I DID have a long, mentally exhausting day, & should have saved reading your blog for another day…. I am very sorry, you did not warrant my hostility, and I will delete my above statements when I am done here…
No problem. Trust me, I accept you as you are and this is the way most of the regular commenters here treat others.
If I ever write something that comes off wrong to you, Please use the contact form and send me an email. I will gladly respond to you.
I take a live and let live approach. As long as someone doesn’t try to evangelize me, turn my country into a theocracy, or try to teach my grandchildren creationism in the classroom, I am quite indifferent to the religious beliefs of others. Surprisingly, a fair number of the readers of this blog are Christian.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce