Respect and support

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Wonderer
It is important to me that we don't criticise and judge others, in fact, we must respect and support all other religions.

This is a call to all religions out there to be respectful, tolerant and supportive to all other religions.

The most important things in life are love, kindness and compassion and helpfulness and I feel we can all try to practice this more. There is all too much fighting in the world between religions and it is totally unnecessary.

I wish all you other religions out there great happiness and peace in your heart and the wisdom not to go out on a mission to criticise other religions.

We are all human and we fail many times in our attempts not to judge those who think different than we, but we can at least try harder to create harmony between all religions. smile

Nellinator
A thread about being nice. A good idea, but it is an unfortunate liklihood that it goes sour. But I agree, judging can be bad, however, I think there is a fine line between judging and rebuking..

cking
sure is. can't imagine what a world would be like if all religions got along. they would pretty much all hold hands and sing that ray Steven's song "everything is beautiful."

Alliance
Originally posted by Wonderer
It is important to me that we don't criticise and judge others, in fact, we must respect and support all other religions.

This is a call to all religions out there to be respectful, tolerant and supportive to all other religions.

The most important things in life are love, kindness and compassion and helpfulness and I feel we can all try to practice this more. There is all too much fighting in the world between religions and it is totally unnecessary.

I wish all you other religions out there great happiness and peace in your heart and the wisdom not to go out on a mission to criticise other religions.

We are all human and we fail many times in our attempts not to judge those who think different than we, but we can at least try harder to create harmony between all religions. smile

You alwas focus simply on other religions. There are many people in the world who are a-religious.

debbiejo
I'm nice..... happy

Alliance
laughing allegedly

Shakyamunison
If only we could see how such an idea would change the world. Good job Wonderer. thumb up

debbiejo
Originally posted by Alliance
laughing allegedly OK, I'm a nice antichrist... evil face happy

MyOwnMuse
Originally posted by Alliance
You alwas focus simply on other religions. There are many people in the world who are a-religious.

A valid point.

The concept applies not only to religion, but also to beliefs and our own personal likes/dislikes.

Alliance
Yeah. But I don't read Wonderer's statement that way. imo its much easier to achieve harmany between religoins than to work outside of them.

MyOwnMuse
Well, yes, because the post specifically mentioned religion.

I was merely expanding the idea.

MyOwnMuse
Originally posted by Nellinator
A thread about being nice. A good idea, but it is an unfortunate liklihood that it goes sour. But I agree, judging can be bad, however, I think there is a fine line between judging and rebuking..

You hit on something interesting here. We all make judgements, and while the word has a negative connotations, judgements are not all intrinsically bad. I don't think someone is capable of not judging anymore than they are capable of not feeling emotion. I am aware that the analogy is slightly incongruous; however, in both situations the ultimate outcome depends on how you act upon those judgements or emotions.

Alliance
A judgement is a decison, and certainly can be passed with information. Its when people start judging on little or no information that it becomes a problem.

And everyone judges....severely.

Wonderer
It's simply about being loving and kind. That's it. No need to complicate things.

Alliance
But you can't escape what it means to be human...despite what you aspire to be.

Arcana
Originally posted by Alliance
But you can't escape what it means to be human...despite what you aspire to be.

*adds to profile*

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/6797/sign7bz.png

Alliance
laughing Thanks. big grin

Shakyamunison
Originally posted by Alliance
laughing Thanks. big grin

Are you sure that's a good thing? wink

Alliance
mad laughing

Everyone thinks I'm a destabalizing element....and thats bad cry

Shakyamunison
Originally posted by Alliance
mad laughing

Everyone thinks I'm a destabalizing element....and thats bad cry

Not everybody thinks that, there are some fools out there. laughing

Alliance
mad FOOLS! laughing

Shakyamunison
^ That is not very respectful or supportive.

Alliance
Coming straight from the horses mouth? erm

Shakyamunison
Originally posted by Alliance
Coming straight from the horses mouth? erm

Are you calling me a horse? laughing

Alliance
allegedly

mahasattva
Originally posted by Wonderer
It is important to me that we don't criticise and judge others, in fact, we must respect and support all other religions.

This is a call to all religions out there to be respectful, tolerant and supportive to all other religions.

The most important things in life are love, kindness and compassion and helpfulness and I feel we can all try to practice this more. There is all too much fighting in the world between religions and it is totally unnecessary.

I wish all you other religions out there great happiness and peace in your heart and the wisdom not to go out on a mission to criticise other religions.

We are all human and we fail many times in our attempts not to judge those who think different than we, but we can at least try harder to create harmony between all religions. smile

If people do have respect other people's faith/religion then love, kindness etc spread around but if we could see they are boastful, disrespecting and slandering the Law of other faith then we should expose thier distortions and teach them with great compassion. This is what we called Dialogue.

Wonderer
Originally posted by mahasattva
If people do have respect other people's faith/religion then love, kindness etc spread around but if we could see they are boastful, disrespecting and slandering the Law of other faith then we should expose thier distortions and teach them with great compassion. This is what we called Dialogue.
No, you are wrong, I'm affraid. The Buddha teaches us that we should only teach the law to those who enquire. He also teaches us that we should not feel negative when somebody else even cuts off our limbs or take advantage of us in any way, because that is attachment. We should only feel compassion to all other beings, including our enemies and there's no need to defend the law. We must support other religions even though we think they are false.

The Buddha NEVER taught us to fight back. Remember, Samsara is finding fault with others.

mahasattva
Originally posted by Wonderer
No, you are wrong, I'm affraid. The Buddha teaches us that we should only teach the law to those who enquire. He also teaches us that we should not feel negative when somebody else even cuts off our limbs or take advantage of us in any way, because that is attachment. We should only feel compassion to all other beings, including our enemies and there's no need to defend the law. We must support other religions even though we think they are false.

The Buddha NEVER taught us to fight back. Remember, Samsara is finding fault with others.


I know. As far as i am concerned, we should not label ourselves or as what u said shouldn't call as Buddhists. I speak of myself(buddhist)...sometimes i speak of other(non-buddhist). I am neither Buddhist nor a Christian. I am the way i am.

Alliance
Speaking is not believing.

Shakyamunison
Originally posted by Alliance
Speaking is not believing.

Please make more sense in the future. wink

Alliance
laughing

You can speak something (Buddhist or Christian) but that does not mean you believe either one.

Shakyamunison
Originally posted by Alliance
laughing

You can speak something (Buddhist or Christian) but that does not mean you believe either one.

Thank you. big grin

Bardock42
Originally posted by Wonderer
It is important to me that we don't criticise and judge others, in fact, we must respect and support all other religions.

This is a call to all religions out there to be respectful, tolerant and supportive to all other religions.

The most important things in life are love, kindness and compassion and helpfulness and I feel we can all try to practice this more. There is all too much fighting in the world between religions and it is totally unnecessary.

I wish all you other religions out there great happiness and peace in your heart and the wisdom not to go out on a mission to criticise other religions.

We are all human and we fail many times in our attempts not to judge those who think different than we, but we can at least try harder to create harmony between all religions. smile

Damn, so it's up to me to criticise and judge?....that's a huge task, you know.

Storm

Alliance
BUMP....but I agree.

Regret
I figure that competition is healthy...

Lord Urizen

Alliance
Originally posted by Regret
I figure that competition is healthy...

I like competition.

marcu
I know I have not been on here much as of late. But the last few days I have been popping in. I am a little sad. There is many people of many different faiths or beliefs on this board and in the Religion section. But even today as I am reading through threads, I see that people post a topic with questions or discussion points and the very next post is someone name calling or blasting them for their post. I understand that this is a place for discussion...but why run people into the ground right off the hop? What happened to repsect and being polite?

Please, someone help me out here and talk to me about this. I don't understand it. If someone starts a serious post here and you don't have a nice thing to say or contribute...then why do you people bother? Just to get a rise out of people? To be plain mean?

It breaks my heart to think that people start threads that mean something to THEM and the very first responder knocks them down.

It doesn't matter what belief system we all have...no one deserves to be run down.

Alliance
Actually, I disagree. I think people with opinions based on fallacies or poor logic deserve to be corrected. Respect goes for grey areas. There is nothing to respect about ignorance.

I think this coming from you is just hilarious.

Thundar
Originally posted by Alliance
Actually, I disagree. I think people with opinions based on fallacies or poor logic deserve to be corrected.


thumb up

This is the second time I've actually agreed with you Alliance. I sincerely hope this isn't a trend. laughing

xmarksthespot
If this is about that inane thread about the Grim Reaper: It was an inane waste of space.

I'm just going to paraphrase an earlier post to save effort.

Everyone is entitled to hold an opinion, and they're free to express it, if they so wish. But if they expect everyone to agree with it or respect it, then they're out of their mind.

If telling someone an unfounded, wrong and/or plainly stupid opinion, is disrespectful, I frankly don't care. If someone's of the opinion/belief the Earth is a flat circular disc on the back of four giant elephants resting atop a larger space tortoise which flies around the sun, I have no qualms telling them that's idiotic.

The credo that "It's a belief, therefore it can't be wrong." or "Opinions are always valid." is (in my opinion, somewhat ironic huh?) incorrect.

Someone who expresses an opinion in full knowledge that it may be subject to criticism or contention, but then can't take the criticism or contention that may accompany expression of an opinion, has no entitlement to whine about disrespect.

Thundar
I agree that personal expression and freedom of opinion are good things, though I do think that it's more worthwhile and beneficial for everyone when that personal expression isn't used primarily for selfish reasons.

I believe that personal expression is only really of value, when the primary motivation behind it is to assist others - and not to tear others down, or take something away from them. So I believe Marcu is correct in this regard.

Where I disagree with him though is when an individual expresses an opinion that is detrimental to the well being to others. In situations such as these, it is necessary to restrict the right to express those opinions that can cause others harm, particularly if those beliefs are frequently practiced upon. In severe cases it may even be necessary to take the right of opinion away from the individual if it continues to cause serious harm to others.

Storm

marcu
Originally posted by Alliance
Actually, I disagree. I think people with opinions based on fallacies or poor logic deserve to be corrected. Respect goes for grey areas. There is nothing to respect about ignorance.

I think this coming from you is just hilarious.

Why exactly would you say it is hilarious coming from me? Do you even know me? Rememeber me?

marcu
The sad part here is that the point is being missed from my first post. People aren't even given a chance around here...they post a new thread on a religious topic that is of interest or importance to THEM and there can't even be an intellectual discussion about it here. It's one blast followed by another blast....

That begs the question as to who exactly is the IGNORANT one around these threads? The one with the topic that you found ignorant? Or YOU for not being able to show some maturity in posting under that person with respect?

I know that answer already...

Alliance
Originally posted by Thundar
thumb up

This is the second time I've actually agreed with you Alliance. I sincerely hope this isn't a trend. laughing

I think people tend to agree more than we disagree. We just focus on the disagreements, because that's whats interesting.

Alliance
Originally posted by marcu
That begs the question as to who exactly is the IGNORANT one around these threads? The one with the topic that you found ignorant? Or YOU for not being able to show some maturity in posting under that person with respect?

I know that answer already...

Well thats rather presumptuous. You start a thread on respect and in your 3rd (i believe) post you are already calling people ignorant. (see my earlier comment about hilarity)Originally posted by marcu
The sad part here is that the point is being missed from my first post. People aren't even given a chance around here...they post a new thread on a religious topic that is of interest or importance to THEM and there can't even be an intellectual discussion about it here. It's one blast followed by another blast....

Actually thats totally incorrect. People do post topics and get serious discussions. Regret has had several good topics lately. THis is a forum. If you want 100% intellectual, go to a university. Some people on here are kids. Intellecual discussion also implies that you have intellectual opinions. Most threads on here don't reflect that, including this one.

Lord Urizen
Originally posted by marcu
The sad part here is that the point is being missed from my first post. People aren't even given a chance around here...they post a new thread on a religious topic that is of interest or importance to THEM and there can't even be an intellectual discussion about it here. It's one blast followed by another blast....

That begs the question as to who exactly is the IGNORANT one around these threads? The one with the topic that you found ignorant? Or YOU for not being able to show some maturity in posting under that person with respect?

I know that answer already...



If your beleif entitles a certain discrimination against other people, then your beleif will not be respected by all.



Islam sees women as second class. Why should I respect Islam ?

Evangelism says Gays go to Hell. Why should I respect Evangelism ?

Evangelism also says Mormons are Satan's cult. Why should I respect it any further ?

Hinduism promotes extreme classism. Why should I respect Hinduism ?

And so on and so on....

marcu
Originally posted by Lord Urizen
If your beleif entitles a certain discrimination against other people, then your beleif will not be respected by all.



Islam sees women as second class. Why should I respect Islam ?

Evangelism says Gays go to Hell. Why should I respect Evangelism ?

Evangelism also says Mormons are Satan's cult. Why should I respect it any further ?

Hinduism promotes extreme classism. Why should I respect Hinduism ?

And so on and so on....

Why? Because if you were Islam, Evangelical, Gay or a Hindu...I'd still respect you and speak kindly to you. Try to get to know you as a person and not slam you regardless of our differences.

I am not looking for enemies here...just want to come to some kind of understanding that we are all people who deserve respect and must show respect.

Symmetric Chaos
Originally posted by marcu
Why? Because if you were Islam, Evangelical, Gay or a Hindu...I'd still respect you and speak kindly to you. Try to get to know you as a person and not slam you regardless of our differences.

Actually if you were an Evangelical you would be "slaming" Urizen since he's bisexual.

marcu
Originally posted by Symmetric Chaos
Actually if you were an Evangelical you would be "slaming" Urizen since he's bisexual.

Actually I am Evangelical and I am not nor would I slam him for being bi-sexual. As a matter of fact...I have been confronting many Christians for slamming gays before they have full understanding of how that all works. I lean towards it not being of a persons choice to be gay or bi...but rather something they may be born with. So, don't tell me that I should be slamming him...cause I would be more interested in getting to know his story to further my knowledge on the topic.

Alliance
Originally posted by marcu
Why? Because if you were Islam, Evangelical, Gay or a Hindu...I'd still respect you and speak kindly to you. Try to get to know you as a person and not slam you regardless of our differences.

No matter how kindly one says "eff off," you're still saying it.

Your opinion is what matters, not how nicely you package it.

Lord Urizen
Originally posted by marcu
Why? Because if you were Islam, Evangelical, Gay or a Hindu...I'd still respect you and speak kindly to you. Try to get to know you as a person and not slam you regardless of our differences.

I am not looking for enemies here...just want to come to some kind of understanding that we are all people who deserve respect and must show respect.


Are you talking about respecting people, or respecting someone's opinion ?



Because those are two completely different things. I do not have to respect an opinion which I find hateful or offensive. No one does.

Thundar
Originally posted by marcu
The sad part here is that the point is being missed from my first post. People aren't even given a chance around here...they post a new thread on a religious topic that is of interest or importance to THEM and there can't even be an intellectual discussion about it here. It's one blast followed by another blast....

That begs the question as to who exactly is the IGNORANT one around these threads? The one with the topic that you found ignorant? Or YOU for not being able to show some maturity in posting under that person with respect?

I know that answer already...

People are given chances, but at the same time one must understand that at some point - they may experience conflict with the opinions they've presented. I think it's also important to note that being able to have an opinion isn't necessarily an entitlement, it is a gift from God that comes along with free will.

Some opinions are clearly evil, and I have a problem with any opinion expressed that can clearly be used to cause harm to others. "Harm" to me is defined as those evils which include sexual sin, violent crimes, slander, lying, and other such sinful behavior as mentioned in the bible. In a perfect world, one without evil - I think complete freedom of expression would work quite well. But unfortunately, we don't live in a perfect world as of yet.

In this world full of people with relativistic morality who want to make their own opinions and perverted doctrines truth over what we all inherently know truth to be, it is necessary to limit some forms of expression, particularly those forms of expression that cause detriment to others. A world which truly offers absolute freedom to do what they please with their opinions, really offers freedom to no one.

guy222
Originally posted by Wonderer
It is important to me that we don't criticise and judge others, in fact, we must respect and support all other religions.

This is a call to all religions out there to be respectful, tolerant and supportive to all other religions.

The most important things in life are love, kindness and compassion and helpfulness and I feel we can all try to practice this more. There is all too much fighting in the world between religions and it is totally unnecessary.

I wish all you other religions out there great happiness and peace in your heart and the wisdom not to go out on a mission to criticise other religions.

We are all human and we fail many times in our attempts not to judge those who think different than we, but we can at least try harder to create harmony between all religions. smile

For me, being respectful in all aspects of life is fair. U shouldn't disrespect anyone under any circumstance. Guy222

Lord Urizen
Originally posted by Thundar
Some opinions are clearly evil, and I have a problem with any opinion expressed that can clearly be used to cause harm to others.


I find some of your opinions evil because they are ignorant and promote certain prejudices.




Originally posted by Thundar
"Harm" to me is defined as those evils which include sexual sin, violent crimes, slander, lying, and other such sinful behavior as mentioned in the bible.


The only sexual sin is rape. That's the only thing that causes harm.

Lying is often necessary. If a depressed girl asks me if I think she is pretty when in reality I find her ugly, I am not going to tell her the truth. To save her life, I will lie.


Would you tell a serial killer the truth if he asked you where your mother was ?


Telling the Truth is not always a good thing. You're black and white sense of morality is disturbing and annoying.





Originally posted by Thundar
In a perfect world, one without evil - I think complete freedom of expression would work quite well. But unfortunately, we don't live in a perfect world as of yet.



You trying to impose your personal morality upon the rest of the world is evil. You have no clear understanding of anyone else's pov, you assume that we all "inheritantly" know your opinion to be truth, you are clearly a fool.

You have a dangerous mind, because you are convinced that you know all there is to know.

marcu
*sighs*

Just general respect for people...and opinions.

Thundar
Originally posted by marcu
*sighs*

Just general respect for people...and opinions.

Should we be respectful to people. Yup.

But the amount of respect I give someone's opinion depends on what that opinion consists of. I wouldn't respect the opinion of a compulsive liar, because, well quite frankly -- he won't be respecting me or anyone else by always lying to them.

So anyway, I only give my complete respect or reverence, to one who is completely righteous with all of his/her personal opinions.

Unfortunately, I don't know of a limited being within this plain of existence, who is completely righteous with all of their opinions, so often times - I find myself not respecting the opinions of many of the limited people I meet in life.

Regret
Originally posted by Thundar
Should we be respectful to people. Yup.

But the amount of respect I give someone's opinion depends on what that opinion consists of. I wouldn't respect the opinion of a compulsive liar, because, well quite frankly -- he won't be respecting me or anyone else by always lying to them.

So anyway, I only give my complete respect or reverence, to one who is completely righteous with all of his/her personal opinions.

Unfortunately, I don't know of a limited being within this plain of existence, who is completely righteous with all of their opinions, so often times - I find myself not respecting the opinions of many of the limited people I meet in life. Although, it is not for us to decide who is "righteous" and who is not, at least not according to Christ.

Thundar
Originally posted by Regret
Although, it is not for us to decide who is "righteous" and who is not, at least not according to Christ.

Well I would agree that we shouldn't condemn or assume punishment on a person, but I do believe God does want us to discern who is righteous and who is not righteous. If we can't discern the righteous from the unrighteous, then it will be easy for us to be lead astray by evil doctrines.

I have to say, I was extremely blessed to have been raised in family, or specifically by a Mother, who knows the Truth. And attempted to instill this Truth in myself and my other family members. Had I not been instilled with this Truth, it would be extremely difficult to determine what Truth was in these final days. And even with having a fairly good grasp and knowledge of the scriptures, I still have much difficulties, doubts, and misunderstandings about some of the things that have been presented before me.

These coming years it is a lot more difficult to discern which doctrines an people are demonic and which one's are not, as evil seems to be working overtime in these final days. Still, there is one thing that always remains true amongst all the confusion, and that one thing is God's word. If you meditate and pray on it consistently Regret, it will never lead you astray.

Regret
Originally posted by Thundar
Well I would agree that we shouldn't condemn or assume punishment on a person, but I do believe God does want us to discern who is righteous and who is not righteous. If we can't discern the righteous from the unrighteous, then it will be easy for us to be lead astray by evil doctrines.

I have to say, I was extremely blessed to have been raised in family, or specifically by a Mother, who knows the Truth. And attempted to instill this Truth in myself and my other family members. Had I not been instilled with this Truth, it would be extremely difficult to determine what Truth was in these final days. And even with having a fairly good grasp and knowledge of the scriptures, I still have much difficulties, doubts, and misunderstandings about some of the things that have been presented before me.

These coming years it is a lot more difficult to discern which doctrines an people are demonic and which one's are not, as evil seems to be working overtime in these final days. Still, there is one thing that always remains true amongst all the confusion, and that one thing is God's word. If you meditate and pray on it consistently Regret, it will never lead you astray. I was not speaking as to discernment of one or another, I was speaking to our attitude towards them. We may discern that another has erred, but we must love him and show him respect all the same. It is an error to show disrespect, one should respect all of God's creations. One may respect another while not agreeing with them. I fail at times in this (at times I have been disrespectful to a few on this forum even), but I strive to overcome my weaknesses.

Thundar
Originally posted by Regret
I was not speaking as to discernment of one or another, I was speaking to our attitude towards them. We may discern that another has erred, but we must love him and show him respect all the same.

It is an error to show disrespect, one should respect all of God's creations. One may respect another while not agreeing with them. I fail at times in this (at times I have been disrespectful to a few on this forum even), but I strive to overcome my weaknesses.


For the most part I agree, but we should demonstrate love and respect for the person, not for the opinion though...wink

And remember, sometimes loving and respecting someone isn't always about saying exactly what someone wants to hear. So even if my ego is wounded(which it has been many times within this forum and many other times in life..lol) I'd much rather suffer a bruised ego -- after receiving a brusque tongue-lashing and being corrected over possessing an evil opinion, as oppossed to not receiving any correction, and inadvertently conforming to the idealogy which the evil opinion supported. I think it's also important that we sincerely pray to God to instill us with a spirit of discernment, so we don't become lead astray by evil opinions.

All this being stated, some opinions do fall in the neutral zone -- neutral meaning, not really being "good or evil" -- but just related to personal preference. Many of us often times don't do a good job of respecting these types of opinions(myself included). Just look at the Comic Book vs Forum, and you'll see a ton of people flying off the handle over such neutral opinions like who'll win in a fictional battle of "Spider-Man vs Wolverine."

I seriously doubt God is going to judge anyone over whether or not they voted Spiderman or Wolvie(although he might judge wolverine888 or this guy I hear about so often named whobdamandog..I was reading some of their older comic book vs threads and these two guys went a little wild with their fanboyistic opinions)

Anyway, God is definitely a God about allowing as many choices as possible as well as freedom of expression. All this of course is tempered with loving moderation. The only problems that arise are when people leave out the "loving moderation" part, and take this freedom to the extreme thinking that it should also be applied to evil opinions - which in turn changes freedom of expression into anarchy. The other evil extreme is when someone becomes so obsessed with their correct opinion, they forget to temper the opinion with Love, and essentially become tyrannical.

Whenever I find myself sliding into these two zones with my opinions, it always helps me to remember the following verses --

Ecclesiastes 7:16-18

16Do not be excessively righteous and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself?

17Do not be excessively wicked and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time?

18It is good that you grasp one thing and also not let go of the other; for the one who fears God comes forth with both of them.

Regret
Originally posted by Thundar
For the most part I agree, but we should demonstrate love and respect for the person, not for the opinion though...wink

And remember, sometimes loving and respecting someone isn't always about saying exactly what someone wants to hear. So even if my ego is wounded(which it has been many times within this forum and many other times in life..lol) I'd much rather suffer a bruised ego -- after receiving a brusque tongue-lashing and being corrected over possessing an evil opinion, as oppossed to not receiving any correction, and inadvertently conforming to the idealogy which the evil opinion supported. I think it's also important that we sincerely pray to God to instill us with a spirit of discernment, so we don't become lead astray by evil opinions.

All this being stated, some opinions do fall in the neutral zone -- neutral meaning, not really being "good or evil" -- but just related to personal preference. Many of us often times don't do a good job of respecting these types of opinions(myself included). Just look at the Comic Book vs Forum, and you'll see a ton of people flying off the handle over such neutral opinions like who'll win in a fictional battle of "Spider-Man vs Wolverine."

I seriously doubt God is going to judge anyone over whether or not they voted Spiderman or Wolvie(although he might judge wolverine888 or this guy I hear about so often named whobdamandog..I was reading some of their older comic book vs threads and these two guys went a little wild with their fanboyistic opinions)

Anyway, God is definitely a God about allowing as many choices as possible as well as freedom of expression. All this of course is tempered with loving moderation. The only problems that arise are when people leave out the "loving moderation" part, and take this freedom to the extreme thinking that it should also be applied to evil opinions - which in turn changes freedom of expression into anarchy. The other evil extreme is when someone becomes so obsessed with their correct opinion, they forget to temper the opinion with Love, and essentially become tyrannical.

Whenever I find myself sliding into these two zones with my opinions, it always helps me to remember the following verses --

Ecclesiastes 7:16-18

16Do not be excessively righteous and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself?

17Do not be excessively wicked and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time?

18It is good that you grasp one thing and also not let go of the other; for the one who fears God comes forth with both of them. I can agree with this, but the manner one decries a doctrine believed false should be such that it maintains respect for the person. In Mormon doctrine, it is stated as such:



The advice, can be applied to any form of authority, not just priesthood (e.g. the term "priesthood" could be changed to "parental authority" and the advice would be good for parents.)

JesusIsAlive
Originally posted by Wonderer
It is important to me that we don't criticise and judge others, in fact, we must respect and support all other religions.

This is a call to all religions out there to be respectful, tolerant and supportive to all other religions.

The most important things in life are love, kindness and compassion and helpfulness and I feel we can all try to practice this more. There is all too much fighting in the world between religions and it is totally unnecessary.

I wish all you other religions out there great happiness and peace in your heart and the wisdom not to go out on a mission to criticise other religions.

We are all human and we fail many times in our attempts not to judge those who think different than we, but we can at least try harder to create harmony between all religions. smile

Wonderer, this is a commendable post, but just as oil and water does not mix neither does Truth and falsehood. You see, according to the Bible Jesus the Christ of Nazareth states that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through Him. So, let us just assume (for discussion sake) that this is true. This means that all other paths to God are false, incorrect, and untrue paths to the Father. Since other paths are untrue then that implies that those religions are invalid in terms of being avenues whereby people can ultimately get to the Father. In short, what would be the point in investing one's life in something that keeps one from getting to the Father? I am in favor of harmony, love, kindness, compassion and helpfulness, and we should all practice this more, but we are all sinners by nature and birth. The sin problem that all people are born with must be dealt with first. We must be born again. Our sins must be washed away by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Being good in itself is commendable but it is not the answer to humanity's sin problem. It would be better to get saved from sin first, then our good works will actually count for something in the life to come. Does this make sense brother? Do you follow me?

Lord Urizen
Originally posted by JesusIsAlive
Wonderer, this is a commendable post, but just as oil and water does not mix neither does Truth and falsehood. You see, according to the Bible Jesus the Christ of Nazareth states that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through Him. So, let us just assume (for discussion sake) that this is true. This means that all other paths to God are false, incorrect, and untrue paths to the Father. Since other paths are untrue then that implies that those religions are invalid in terms of being avenues whereby people can ultimately get to the Father. In short, what would be the point in investing one's life in something that keeps one from getting to the Father? I am in favor of harmony, love, kindness, compassion and helpfulness, and we should all practice this more, but we are all sinners by nature and birth. The sin problem that all people are born with must be dealt with first. We must be born again. Our sins must be washed away by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Being good in itself is commendable but it is not the answer to humanity's sin problem. It would be better to get saved from sin first, then our good works will actually count for something in the life to come. Does this make sense brother? Do you follow me?





yawn

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