Me again! I posted this video on this Welcome forum, not realising that it is not a discussion forum. I have move it to The Kitchen Sink. The moderator suggested I post a link to it here, so people can comment.
Common Ground
I welcome your thoughts. Could I please make a plea without offending anybody? My video carries what I think is a very important message, especially in these times. I'd be glad if any replies could focus on the thrust of that message, which is religious intolerance. I would prefer my thread not to be swamped with evangelism, to which at 75 I am completely immune.
Welcome and thank you for sharing your views!
All Christians have a shared responsibility to be and do good. However, none of us really are! It's a good thing we have Jesus Christ, who indeed is good and who has set an example for us to follow; namely to love God and to love our neighbour.
The problem, however - while there is some overlap - to "love ones neighbour" varies in all beliefs. That is, we live in a world where cultures, religions and beliefs define their own idea of what is "good" and what "love" looks like. Even your proposal of finding common ground is probably to a secular mind seen as a good thing, but to people of other beliefs, it can be destructive.
Faith is really like colours. There's a great number of them, and some are closer than others, but all are exclusive. Though there are colours that can be considered "neutral", even they are exclusive, and it requires people agreeing on the concept of "neutral", and through this it involves sacrificing their beliefs.
To give a very practical example based on one of your ideas; that people should learn about different religions, but not from a devoted person - from a secular point of view, this could be good, because it's led by a secular mind for a secular recipient. From a Christian point of view, this is not good, because Christianity is not understood purely academically, but appropriately apprehended through faith. Furthermore, because it's a faith we are given, it's not something we can freely mix with other beliefs, for then it becomes a new and different belief in its own right. This is called Syncretism, which is really a discussion in itself. However, I do agree that there is much value in learning about different religions and beliefs, because it gives you a balanced world view, and furthermore it allows you to interact with people with sensitivity and understanding.
Saying all of this, at a very basic level, of course Christians certainly aspire to love and to respect and to live in peace with all. But, unfortunately, there is bound to be disagreements because what is considered "good" by a person of "no faith" can often be harmful to a person of faith.
Thank you again for challenging us, however. If I were to challenge you back, I would say this:
There is really no such thing as "believing in nothing". e.g. If you were to agree with science, rationalism, humanism and politically correctness, then this is very much a belief. It's a fluid and non-fixed belief, but a belief nonetheless, and very much exclusive. And so, when you are asking people to "take a step back and think", are you setting your own beliefs over others?
