Religion has certain ideas at the heart of it which we call sacred or holy or whatever. What it means is, 'Here is an idea or a notion that you're not allowed to say anything bad about; you're just not. Why not? – because you're not!'
If somebody votes for a party that you don't agree with, you're free to argue about it as much as you like; everybody will have an argument but nobody feels aggrieved by it. If somebody thinks taxes should go up or down you are free to have an argument about it. But on the other hand if somebody says 'I mustn't move a light switch on a Saturday', you say, 'I respect that'. Why should it be that it's perfectly legitimate to support the Labor party or the Conservative party, Republicans or Democrats, this model of economics versus that, Macintosh instead of Windows - but to have an opinion about how the Universe began, about who created the Universe . .. no, that's holy? . ..
We are used to not challenging religious ideas but it's very interesting how much of a furore Richard creates when he does it! Everybody gets absolutely frantic about it because you're not allowed to say these things. Yet when you look at it rationally there is no reason why those ideas shouldn't be as open to debate as any other, except that we have agreed somehow between us that they shouldn't be.
–Douglas Adams
I also think its funny how odd people get about talking about religion. How do we understand each other if we never talk
ReplyDeleteVery interesting idea about people being unhappy about talking religion. It just seems to be one of those subjects. Your site intrigues me.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting idea for a blog. It is such a taboo subject but something we all need to be open about.
ReplyDeleteI often wonder how we got to a place where we could not talk about something as simple as religion. Just because we do not agree doesn't mean we should not talk.
ReplyDeleteInteresting idea for a blog. I will definitely be returning to read more.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree completely with you. Religion needs to be questioned. How else are you going to grow as an individual if you're not questioning your "beliefs"?
ReplyDeleteThis blog defines my life. God forbid I talk about the universe in my family. I think it's our duty as an intelligent species to counter something we sincerely believe causes such pain and heartache, no matter what happiness it causes.
ReplyDeleteActually the reason I don't engage in discussions about religion is that there's usually no point. I used to be a Christian minister of religion but am now an atheist. Often people want to persuade me "back to the fold" - which I find boring and offensive; I'm not interested. Or people want to congratulate me on "seeing the light" - which is gratifying, I must admit, but probably not the sort of discussion mentioned in the blog post. Because religion is about "belief" and not "ideas" (referencing the movie 'Dogma') conversations about religion are generally very boring because they come down to: I believe this, you believe that; let's tally up where we agree and where we don't ... *yawn* The best you can hope for is that you conversation partner will refrain from trying to convert you.
ReplyDeleteCatie Morrison, I'm usually a very passive person, but what really gets my blood pumping is when I try to show someone evidence about something and they just disagree, they don't even try to understand. Ignorance can be so very aggravating!
ReplyDeleteUsually conversations with religious people end with them telling me I am going to Hell, and then they close with "I'll pray for your soul"