Re: Is religion antithetical to democracy [formerly: Are Islam and Democracy Incompatible?]

On Sun, 30 Nov 2003 08:45:12 -0500, Bob LeChevalier
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

>[EMAIL PROTECTED] (chris alden) wrote:
>>AE <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
>>> Christian tolerance always meant that everybody was allowed to become 
>>> Christian, not that other religions ever would have been tolerated.
>>
>>Define tolerance.  If, on the one hand, you're referring to absolute
>>acceptance of other religions as true, then the absolute truth claims
>>of the Christian religion would of course be incompatable.  If you're
>>referring to love and peace even in the face of ideological
>>difference, then Christianity (as an ideology - not as an abuse of
>>societal hegemony) most certainly is compatable.  I'm afraid you seem
>>to be employing the former, which is a very PoMo definition, and I'd
>>challenge you to either knock down absolute truth as a philosophical
>>position or show me any part of Christian scripture that denys the
>>idea of tolerance on a human, rather than an ideological, level.

Tolerance is granting that others have the right to their opinions,
beliefs etc and are just as sincere in them as you are. It includes
accepting that they believe what they do without interfering with
this. Live and let live.

But the language of tolerance includes making a judgement call: I
tolerate you. It's condescending and nasty: I tell you you're wrong
but you have the right to be wrong. Which is pretty offensive.

The really tolerant are surprised to be called tolerant.

>The Christian doctrine of the Great Commission, wherein the disciples
>(and by implication all Christians) are instructed to bring the gospel
>to all the world, is fundamentally aggressive against all other
>religious beliefs.

The worst part of it is that they imagine reaction to their
aggression, is attacking their religion.

Which is of course projection of their own modus operandi.

But it escalates things and all too often causes real hatred on both
sides where there wouldn't even be any if they had the sense not to
force it where it is neither wanted nor needed.

Push people and they push back. The trouble is that Christianity
turned them into sociopaths who can't understand this, and don't even
understand that they started the pushing in the first place.

>lojbab