Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Religion

I read an article in the newspaper about the elections in Turkey, where two voices were featured: a young, Westernized girl, who said that religion shouldn't dictate who she could be; and a young man saying he felt sorry for any woman who shows her skin cause she will go straight to hell.

There are differences which I can take, and differences which I cannot take. I can respect other people's religious choices, but the truth is I do it only out of an attempt to be politically correct. In all honesty, I think I have a hard time accepting religious people altogether, irrespective of their religion. Which is not to say that I cannot accept people's beliefs, but rather that religiosity scares me, simply because it involves an element of submission to a collective norm established according to exogenous rules, values and norms. How to deal with difference?

2 comments:

Alex said...

You wrote:

I think I have a hard time accepting religious people altogether, irrespective of their religion.

Oh, this spoke to my heart. However, you add that this is not to say that you cannot accept people's (religious) beliefs. That is, you want to be a good person and respect other people's religious choices. I disagree that you can do that. I don't see how this would be possible, once you've declared what's in the quote. Maybe you enlighten me. For my part, I have a hard time accepting religious people and their beliefs, or in fact, because of their beliefs. I don't hate them qua people, but qua religious agents.

I don't see how you have hard time accepting religious people while at the same time respecting their beliefs. Or, maybe you don't respect their beliefs, but their right to believe whatever they want? If so, why this should be the case? I don't think people should have the right to believe what they want. Terrorists believe that all westerners (or americans, at least) must die and go to hell. This is their belief, they strive to make it happen. Do they have the right to entertain such a belief? Again, I don't think people should have the right to believe what they want. Consequently, I don't respect other people's religious (or non-religious) choices. Do they deserve respect?

thinkingdifference said...

ok, i think it's not that simple. i can accept that people have different beliefs. after all, even the fact that i do not have a belief is a belief in itself. so, i can put myself (to a certain extent though) in other people's shoes and i can understand that there is no one logic, but several logical ways of thinking, depending of your context. i can respect the fact that people have different views and beliefs, but i might not necessarily be able to respect their content.

 
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