tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post4116610607290917147..comments2024-03-27T00:26:19.644+00:00Comments on Rosa Rubicondior: Ignorance Is Strength.Rosa Rubicondiorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06063268216781988588noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-37831224834167266172012-12-28T09:53:36.865+00:002012-12-28T09:53:36.865+00:00I'm with you on the preaching front. Whilst I ...I'm with you on the preaching front. Whilst I believe that everyone is due their own opinion and should be allowed to follow whichever religion they choose (the operative word there being 'choose' rather than 'forced') no one has, in my opinion, the right to force others to follow the path they themselves have chosen. As far as I can see (& this is my own opinion!) most organised religions appear to be run by people who wish to control others, Christianity very much included.<br /><br />If I wanted to follow Christianity I would make the decision myself & go to a church, I would not be converted by somebody knocking on my door and spouting the bible at me.<br /><br /> I had, many years ago in Australia, a 'discussion' with a Christian on my then doorstep for over an hour, much to the disbelief and disgruntlement of my house mates. The chap I was talking to absolutely believed that there was no other path than the one he had chosen and steadfastly refused to consider that a) I had a choice in the matter & b) that I could be happy living my life the way I had chosen to. I, on the other hand, did not question his beliefs or the fact that his God existed, I merely suggested to him that there are other ways to reach the same end point. <br /><br />I wonder, if everybody believed that their own religion was true, yet allowed that others' gods were different faces of their own & that other forms of worship were different paths, how much of conflict and violence borne of religion would be reduced? For those who believe that no gods exist at all, science definitely weighs in your favour but isn't that also a different path & a choice?<br /><br />There is a quote from a Rush song which I like to remind myself of when I get irate with people;<br /><br />'Each of us in some kind of way are imperfect and incomplete,<br />genetic blends of uncertain end on a fortune trip that's far too fleet.<br />You can choose a ready guide in some celestial voice,<br />you can choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.<br />You can choose from phantom fear or kindness that can kill<br />but I will choose a path that's clear, I will choose Free Will.'<br /><br />That's my tuppence worth anyway!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-67266722517145630432012-05-31T08:15:10.520+01:002012-05-31T08:15:10.520+01:00Ask yourself what the point of the parable was and...Ask yourself what the point of the parable was and why it's in the Bible. What were parables used for, exactly? <br /><br />I don't think they were intended as nice bedtime stories for the disciples, were they?Rosa Rubicondiorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06063268216781988588noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-49304087722840691942012-05-13T10:03:22.685+01:002012-05-13T10:03:22.685+01:00I know I've commented on this before, but exac...I know I've commented on this before, but exactly how you get from Jesus telling a parable about a King to Jesus condoning such behaviour is a bigger step than what you have illustrated here.<br /><br />I think you can do it, but to stop the post looking like an actual out-of-context criticism I think you do need to make the leap.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-47915306623476069632012-04-12T12:28:17.072+01:002012-04-12T12:28:17.072+01:00In terms of this particular post, no, I haven'...In terms of this particular post, no, I haven't challenged anything you have said. Mainly because I largely agree with you - with the exception of the fact that I know people who profess to having become Christians after reading the Bible.<br /><br />I have, however, challenged what you have said about religion being "offensive," "preaching" being unwelcome and the right-wing being "noxious poison." To observe that it is not necessarily consistent with the tone you set out for this blog is not unfounded, and it is not meant as a personal attack (although I am sorry if you took it that way). <br /><br />I will add that I know from experience as a blogger myself that the tone in which something is meant is not always the tone in which something is read - this sort of communication where one does not necessarily know anything about the author or the readership is undoubtedly fraught with difficulty at times.JP...https://www.blogger.com/profile/00951577183105761317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-4207994472978675612012-04-08T23:34:16.787+01:002012-04-08T23:34:16.787+01:00I notice that you haven't challenged anything ...I notice that you haven't challenged anything I said yet but are merely continuing with ad hominem abuse. Presumably, you still find this the most intellectually satisfying way to deal with disagreement rather than confronting the arguments.Rosa Rubicondiorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06063268216781988588noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-23631756966833763222012-04-08T14:14:03.524+01:002012-04-08T14:14:03.524+01:00My statement that the attitude on this blog is not...My statement that the attitude on this blog is not as tolerant as one might expect is no more ad hominem than your post about the ignorance of (some) Christians.<br /><br />I never said anything about (not) challenging opposing views. In fact, I am very pro such challenges. However, making sweeping statments about religion being "offensive" and the right wing being "noxious" is not reasoned debate, and it does not convey open-mindedness. <br /><br />Such sweeping statements are not so much of a challenge to as a blanket dismissal of both "religion" and the "right wing." <br /><br />It's fine by me if you want to make such statements, and I am not going to hold it against you, but don't kid yourself that it's demonstrating the tolerance so often preached by some who identify themselves as "left wing."JP...https://www.blogger.com/profile/00951577183105761317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-18884843905351254612012-04-08T14:01:48.538+01:002012-04-08T14:01:48.538+01:00I'm not making excuses for anything.
You asse...I'm not making excuses for anything.<br /><br />You assert that Christians don't always seem to know the Bible - which is a fair assertion. <br /><br />I just think that if you are going to accuse people of ignorance than you yourself need to be above reproach. As it happens in this case you do seem to be well read, but my point stands that to accuse people of ignorance and then to quote verses from the Bible without having read the context would be hypocritical.JP...https://www.blogger.com/profile/00951577183105761317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-11544863280634027862012-04-07T23:23:18.850+01:002012-04-07T23:23:18.850+01:00So it's somehow centre-left to allow the right...So it's somehow centre-left to allow the right wing to spout their noxious poison unchallenged?<br /><br />Of course, you are perfectly free to challenge what I've said if you ever find that an ad hominem attack isn't a very intellectually satisfying way to conduct a discussion.Rosa Rubicondiorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06063268216781988588noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-84277548178235331042012-04-07T23:20:47.563+01:002012-04-07T23:20:47.563+01:00The good old fall-back "Out of Context" ...The good old fall-back "Out of Context" defence, eh? Aren't you even embarrassed that you need these stock excuses?Rosa Rubicondiorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06063268216781988588noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-89939155513172632732012-04-07T11:14:55.427+01:002012-04-07T11:14:55.427+01:00As an aside, I notice you are quite hard-line abou...As an aside, I notice you are quite hard-line about "preaching," "offensive" religious advertising and quotations from holy books. I'm not convinced this conveys the tolerance one might expect from soneone who declares themselves to be "centre-left" nor that your look at religion from this perspective is particularly open-minded.JP...https://www.blogger.com/profile/00951577183105761317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-74919943584472152902012-04-07T11:10:44.097+01:002012-04-07T11:10:44.097+01:00There is truth in what you say here, but I am not ...There is truth in what you say here, but I am not convinced that such ignorance is a particularly Christian trait. Atheists can also be quite good at quoting verses out of context as a means of putting forth arguments.<br /><br />If you have taken the time to read and study these texts in context, then all credit to you. However, if you are just quoting verses on their own without ever having read them in context yourself then you are no better than the Christians who do the same thing and your cries of "ignorance" amount to the pot calling the kettle black, as the saying goes.JP...https://www.blogger.com/profile/00951577183105761317noreply@blogger.com