Dreampanther
We all face the reaper.
Originally posted by FeceMan
First of all, we live in a retarded culture that states that "tolerance" means "cherishing and accepting others" instead of "putting up with them." Things that mainstream culture classifies as intolerance are often ridiculously blown out of proportion and, quite frankly, anti-Christian. (Did you see all the bullshit about the Left Behind game? Yeah.)Second of all, if you live in a crappy country, be prepared to deal with crappy people.
Ahem. I mean...
The charismatic movement is big in Africa, and I'm guessing you ran into those people rather than other Christians.
OKay, let's start from the bottom...
Nah, the chick that attacked me is from the Dutch Reformed church, which is the very conservative mainstream Christian church we have here (you know, still think being gay means you go straight to Hell, doesn't allow you to have sex in a standing-up position because they are afraid it might lead to dancing 😛 that kinda thing). The reason I know this is I was raised in that church, and left when I was eighteen and old enough to start thinking for myself.
My country is not crappy. In fact, I love my country. (And FIFA seems to agree with me). We do have a lot of problems, but - name me one, just ONE other country where the dominant, ruling, elitist party gave up power to the oppressed without a full-scale war...
And here I can go scuba-diving in the middle of winter without a wetsuit, I have gone walking with elephants, I have played with lion cubs - so really I can't complain about my country (although, I will admit, crime is a b!tch).
But personally, I would rank Nelson Mandela in the same league as Ghandi, though of course you are entitled to your own opinion.
As for tolerance: In the new constitution, SA recognised freedom of religion as a BASIC HUMAN RIGHT. It goes about respect.
By illustration, let me use a debate as an example. When you have a debate with respect, it means you listen to other people's opinions, and they listen to yours. The idea is not to convince your fellow debater - that would be impossible, because for this example both people are equally convincd of their standpoint. The objective is to put your points across as clearly as possible, so that anybody who is still undecided will lean more towards your standpoint - but that is all it is - A STANDPOINT. A perspective, if you will.
In religion, philosophy and sociology there is really no right or wrong. You pick a perspective that suits your worldview, and it is a dynamic perspective, not a static one. In other words, there is nothing to prevent you from changing your mind, if you wish to do so.
This, of course, is the main difference netween the social sciences and the natural sciences, as 2 + 2 = 4 ALWAYS, not sometimes when you feel like it.
A debate without respect is an argument that soon turns into a nasty, ugly, mean little war, where the main objective is to hurt your opponent as much as possible. There is nothing respectful. dynamic or fluid about this relationship - there is no give and take - the argument turns into name-calling eventually, and neither will back away from their stance as they fear losing face. Which they did, long ago.
What bothered me was that I received an unsolicited mail full of Christian propaganda from complete strangers, and when I politely asked to be removed from the list, I was verbally assaulted and abused. By these same Christians that preach love and forgiveness.
And this has never happened to me with Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, Rastafarians... or any other religion!
So, I am wondering: Have I just been extremely fortunate in my dealings with other religions, or is there someting about Christianity that turns people into these conceited, intolerant and abusive propagandanists?
Or have I just been unfortunate in my dealings with Christians? And in fact, spouting this kind of behaviour - should these individuals still be considered Christians?