Religion?
Guess what. I'm not a Christian. So, all of you Christians reading this already are thinking, "Satanist." Well, I'm not. Sure, I am a Humanist (Basically an Atheist but has some sociopolitical beliefs too), and sure, I believe all of you who believe in one are mislead or just plain stupid, but at least I care to take the time to look at the individual, and care about them, not their religion.
In my experience, many Christians I've talked to have no patience or tolerance in dealing with me. Or other religions for that matter. The Christian faith is supposed to be based on tolerance, yes? Well, face it, Christians believe everybody who doesn't follow their dogma is either one of 3 things, a Pagan, an Atheist, or a Satanist. What gives Christians the right to look down upon other religions and call them "pagans", or to label a person who doesn't believe at all, a devil worshiper? Their presumption, that's it. They presume they are right, nobody else is. Now, while it is ok to believe that your right over others, why can you not let others have their own? Islam does, the Jewish do, and the Hindus and Taoists do. Why not Christians?
They're stuck up white people. That's basically it. Grown to comfortable over the thousand of years that the Catholic Church dominating the landscape of Europe. Never exposed to new ideas. Stagnated. While it has definitely improved since the 1400's, this Christian ignorance is still seen today in the western world. Lets take President Elect Bush for Example. In his major speeches, he always says somewhere in there, "God Bless America." He assumes that there is one Entity watching over us all, guiding us, controlling us. Ever hear of separation of Church and State? (yes, I know I'm taking that very liberally). The government and religion should be separate in all ways except to guarantee freedom.
Well, its not. The United States Government discriminates against other religions, and as a direct result, the majority population of the United States does too. While I'm not saying that it's the governments fault for causing religious strife in America, I am saying that they could do a lot to eliminate it.
Anyway, I digress, the religious intolerance of the Christians is prevalent throughout society, and hell, why not? Hitler did it, something must be right. (In case you can't tell, that is sarcasm) The Christians intolerance is probably one of the most destructive forces in society. It has caused wars, lynching, mobs, deaths, and total destruction of a people. One only needs to look at the major wars and their outcomes, The Thirty Years War, WWII, the Crusades, and the Spanish conquests of the New World, to realize the destruction wrought by the intolerance, and the effect it has had on society.
Society would be better off with religious tolerance, and the Christian faith is anything but. So why others rant about pop culture and capitalism have destroyed society, let us not forget the ever present yet seemingly hidden cause. The Christian's intolerance of any other religion but their own.
- Brian