Date: Mon, 9 Sep 2002 10:28:53 -0700 (PDT) From: "Neal E. Westfall" <nwestfal@directvinternet.com> To: Lawrence Sica <lomifeh@earthlink.net> Cc: Juli Mallett <jmallett@FreeBSD.ORG>, Terry Lambert <tlambert2@mindspring.com>, Joshua Lee <yid@softhome.net>, <dave@jetcafe.org>, <chat@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: Re: Why did evolution fail? Message-ID: <20020909100754.L9219-100000@Tolstoy.home.lan> In-Reply-To: <5AB38EC2-C38E-11D6-8C5E-000393A335A2@earthlink.net>
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On Sun, 8 Sep 2002, Lawrence Sica wrote: > > Even though their worldview isn't even cogent? Why is "accepting of > > other religions" such a righteous goal? Yeesh, the postmodern West > > really is anemic to truth. By the way, why is it that we are being > > called to never criticize anyone else's beliefs? Inherent in the > > premise is a contradiction, leading to criticism of certain beliefs > > (e.g. Christianity). > > > > Accepting of other views is a laudable goal. Not because you agree > with them, but because you are enlightened enough to know that there > are many faces of God. And...did God tell you this? By the way, in these discussions, I always detect an equivocation on the meaning of the words "acceptance," "tolerance" etc. Disagreement with someones views means by definition that you think they are false. If Christ says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no-one comes to the Father but through me," this automatically excludes the notion that there are "many ways to God". Truth has the unmistakeable quality of clarity, not confusion. Truth also has the quality of being the opposite of falsehood, something that people cannot seem to grasp when it comes to ultimate questions. > I know that is not a popular view by many of > the Christian sects but it is true. The Jewish and the Christian god > have the same roots, yet for many years Christians have persecuted > Jews. You are absolutely correct, the Jewish and Christian God have the same roots. Christianity is the fulfillment of Judaism. The fact that many Christians have persecuted Jews is a most lamentable fact, yet it does not change the nature of truth. Such Christians to the extent that they persecute others, are in direct contradiction with what their religion teaches. > Go figure eh? If everyone would accept the idea that if you > beleive in a God then the God you see may be different than the God I > see and that does not make my God wrong, religion and belief are > personal and even within the same religion many see God differently. > One cannot but put God through their own lens, any religion has this. You are endorsing subjectivism, which is completely irrational. Why should anyone accept such an irrational premise? I can accept that people can disagree, but that doesn't mean that I think we are both right. > It is not being called to not criticize another belifes, it's being > called to not demonize them or put them on a lower level. What do you mean by "demonize" them? To the extent that a person's beliefs are false, ill consequences should be expected to ensue. For example, the belief that Mohammed was God's prophet, coupled with the fact that Mohammed spread his beliefs at the edge of the sword, it should not be so surprising when the spread of Islam leads to religious persecution, or the flying of 757's into skyscrapers. Bad trees produce bad fruit. > The USA is > all about critiquing others ideas and coming up with a common ground. > That is why it's important accept other religions. One of the > foundations of the USA was freedom to worship and freedom from worship > at the same time. The ability to worship who you want and not worry > about a government or others persecuting you is important. But of course all of this is irrelevent as to what the truth is. Another of the great foundations we have in the country is the freedom of speech, including the right to criticize others. Neal To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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