religion phobic

[randomusername03]

is it acceptable to be religion phobic?

Not religious personally, i lump all moderate religions into a live and let live bucket. but the fundamentalist believers, be it westboro or hamas, i do find myself having a visceral and active dislike/distain for. and its mostly fundementalist islam that im aware due to the modern atrocities they have committed. is it bad to say im fundementalist islamaphobic for example?

Neither are those who actually follow the teachings of the Holy Quran, OP, though those who like to pretend they do - often after being influenced by those who corrupt it - sometimes seek protection by claiming adherence to a religion they don't understand at all

It can be well worth finding a reputable scholar for guidance with this,not least because it can be very enlightening

you cant dictate what someone's religion is and tell them they are doing it wrong 😆 dont have to like it, can maybe even it hate it if its evil enough, but religion is a belief system, belief thats its right is all thats needed. as for infantilising extremists, really. the poor little lambs didn't really know what they were doing?

you asked how my hate of extremists manifests. I questioned if it had to, wasn't feeling hatred enough. you then accused me of wanting to jail people for their feelings. how exactly did you get to that last blatantly nonsense assumption?

Have you read the Qur'an?

You're not going to get much sense, when you've got women falling over themselves to defend Iran, which is actually just getting at Israel. An oppressive regime, which sees its own women executed is not one that I respect either.

It can be well worth finding a reputable scholar for guidance with this,not least because it can be very enlightening

religion - all of them - are endlessly fascinating and a reflection of how we've tried to grapple with what it means to be human in the world.

That doesn't make them true. Or even right ....

as for infantilising extremists, really. the poor little lambs didn't really know what they were doing?

Nobody's trying to, OP, and certainly many will know exactly what they're doing, but they rely to a great extent on useful idiots who'll automatically go along with their self-serving claims of racism, ignoring that what they're actually doing us to drag a beautiful code into the dust

And yes I've read it, @blackbirdevensong - or rather I should say I've had it read to me, since sadly I'm too stupid to cope with the original arabic

religion - all of them - are endlessly fascinating and a reflection of how we've tried to grapple with what it means to be human in the world.
That doesn't make them true. Or even right ....

That's so beautiful put, @SerendipityJane, and I agree about no religion necessarily being "right", but I still believe that, as a code for life, Islam in its purest form is as good a guide as any

I'm not even an adherent myself, of this or any other mainstream religion, but I hope I recognise the better qualities of most where they remain uncorrupted

It's only a difference of degree.

It all stems from the same source.

Intolerance is intolerance is intolerance.

Some things shouldn't be tolerated though. For example, using religion as an excuse to marry and rape little children.

Is that religion specific or culture? There are predominantly Christian villages in Africa for instance that practice FGM and its customary to marry as a child.

I would say it comes under extremism, it doesn't need to be specific to a single religion.

Agree.

Yes, agree with you there - hence why I disagree with OP where she’s clearly singling out one religion here and masking it as “a debate”.

Or she's having her own opinion.

Or using it as an excuse to mutilate baby boys...

Boys and girls, but yes.

I think we may be referring to different faiths - there's more than one that likes genital mutilation.

Not in the name of Christianity though!

I'm not referring to a single faith, I'm referring to what I find to be acts of religious extremism in general.

Then we agree.

just to add fuel the fire, im very much culturist too, and quite happy to say I'd see certain cultures wiped from the earth. Predominately those where pedophilia is the norm. And I think those cultures are very much tied to their religion and to say they are not is nonsense. I dont know why its bad to say that in certain swathes of the world islam preaches pedophilia as normal due to their interpretation of their faith, and so that behaviour becomes embedded in their culture. im not saying all Muslims adhere to that belief because thats patently and observedly untrue, but to try and quash any discussion of that issue under claims of either racism or islamaphobia is why Britain is in the position it is now with regards to the grooming gangs. id say a similiar but not quite the same issue occurred within the Catholic Church and I have as much disgust for that as well, pedophilia was rampant and those in power turned a blind eye.

I'm an atheist but my perception is that moderate religion is often a force for marginal good: it encourages people to be compassionate and respectful, supports a sense of community etc. I've never been a person of faith but I can appreciate that the Church or England, for example, has been behind a lot of social good in the UK and I know moderate British Muslims who have an enormous sense of obligation towards others which stems from their faith. I'm very much live and let live for people of moderate faith and in some cases slightly in awe.

But religious zealotry or fundamentalism is overwhelmingly negative and usually correlates with stupidity or mental illness.

I don't think religious zealotry is all that different from non-religious zealotry, though. A fundamentalist Muslim is not a million miles away from an antivaxxer or a right wing nutjob. In both cases these are people who have allowed their belief in something to override their ability to think critically and behave rationally. But its the obsessive commitment to the cause that's the problem as opposed to the flavour of the faith.

That's all very well.

But if you need to be told to be nice to one another by an imaginary friend, then it doesn't say much to conscience.

@SerendipityJane

I totally agree: I've always felt that having to rely on an external force for moral guidance actually undermines morality. If I do something because "God" tells me to do it as opposed to because I know it's the right thing to do it points to weakness, lack of conviction and lack of moral intelligence.

I could never be a person of faith because I can't swallow the contradictions that are sold to me which require me to suspend my critical thinking and logic (resurrection anyone?). And that's before you get to the hypocrisy and the treatment of women by most mainstream faiths.

That said, I do think some of the infrastructure of organised religion can at best be extremely helpful. When I look at the good that has been done in society by various religious organisations and the spiritual support which these faith organisations provide to people I'm sometimes envious.

And I don't think bigotry or zealotry is confined to religion.