I am a fairly tolerant person. I accept differences in people, cultures, and religious beliefs. To an extent, I should say. I can honestly say that I'm intolerant of Scientology, which I don't even consider to be a religion. I consider it to be sheer stupidity. Have you read about it? That is one sick-ass cult, and it's followers are nothing short of creepy. Really, really creepy. Maybe that's one of the reasons I can't enjoy anything with Tom Cruise or John Travolta. Like I said, I'm completely intolerant.
Having said that, I can accept just about anything else, including religions that don't really make sense to me (*cough* mormonism *cough*). That doesn't mean, however, that I can agree with how religious beliefs are carried out. I see this a lot with Islamic culture, unfortunately. It seems, for some reason, that whenever I read about a case of religious persecution that upsets me to a great degree, it is an Islamic country or area in which it happens.
Most recently a man was sentenced to 5 years in prison and 1000 lashes. What was his horrible crime, you may ask? He bragged about his sex life. Isn't that awful??? A man claimed to have had consensual sex with women. He's not being punished because he DID have sex, just because he claimed to have had it. Due to an interpretation of Islamic law, in Saudi Arabia it is against the law to have pre-marital sex. It is also illegal for unmarried men and women to interract. So... by claiming to have sex, this man (Mazen Abdul Jawad) has committed a crime worthy of a lengthy prison term and severe corporal punishment.
If followers of Islam expect to be accepted and expect religious tolerance, they're going to have to stop behaving like ignorant beasts (with no insult meant to any animals). We look back with horror and repulsion at the Crusades and the Inquisition. Eventually these behaviors will be treated with the same disgust that we grant to other crimes against those who seek only religious and sexual freedom.
When will people learn that religion, any religion, is open to personal interpretation? No religious text is 100% clear, and no person can ever truly understand God/Gods/Yaweh/Jehova/whatever the hell you worship/'s will? If religion is based on a higher power, then what man (human) could possibly have the gall, the sheer arrogance, to claim to understand this higher power? And thus we must use our best judgment. And if this is our best judgment, why the hell are these people allowed to remain in control of the lives of others?
Again, I say, assassinate these fuckers, put some sane people in positions of power (sane, not necessarily good -- politicians are, afterall, politicians), and then ditch these archaic, sick and horrifying practices. Because trust me, if given the chance, they'll come after you, too.
(Oh, and one more thing before I go -- shame on the media agency that put this on air, knowing that they were subjecting this man to punishment. It's probably too much to expect a media outlet to behave with decency, but one can always hope.)
We're thankful you don't live in this man's country. You wouldn't be allowed to show us pictures of your funny sex toys! And you wouldn't like to get whipped by *these* guys...
I read about Scientology. Crazy indeed. Now I understand why, each time I post a dream about aliens at my dreams blog, my Google ads show Scientology stuff. It's so annoying!
I'd add veganism to the list of crazy religions. Really. They worship animals and half of them are nuts. Makes me think they shouldn't have quitted animal proteins...
Posted by: Gissel | 10/08/2009 at 02:10 AM
I don't know that all vegans treat it like a religion, but those that do? Yeah, they're messed up. The vegans I know, while rabid as all get out about it, aren't worshiping the animals.
So far I've never had anyone say anything to me about changing MY habits. I'd like to see someone explain to me what exaclty I AM supposed to eat, given the dietary restrictions that I already have.
Posted by: The Queen of the Blog | 10/08/2009 at 07:26 AM
Well, they don't worship animals LITERALLY, but they talk like animals are sacred or something, and they think that killing an animal to eat it is a crime just like killing a person. So, if it sounds like a religion, and they act like religious fanatics, I'm calling it a religion :-)
Fanatic vegans would tell you to try every possible vegetal food until you find one that suits you, because a vegan diet is absolutely healthy and perfect and harmless, and there MUST be something you can eat instead of killing their precious "people with fur/feathers". Or else, they will tell you that you're making it all up (your disease), because you're a greedy meat-eater making up excuses to kill animals only to please your tastebuds.
These are real arguments said by real vegans, to a woman with a disease even worse than yours (her doctors aren't sure about the diagnosis, but she takes Remicade). I had to leave the discussion because they turned really nasty on me, just because I told them that they cannot expect to convince people to be vegans if they insult them, or if they compare animals with people or mental retards, 'cause that's absurd and it doesn't work. Oh, and I told them that it's cruel from them to insult non-vegans, because some of them have sicknesses and they cannot go on a vegan diet. They didn't like that either.
Fanatics are fanatics.
Posted by: Gissel | 10/08/2009 at 01:19 PM
Yup. I'm with you there. I just don't argue anymore. :D
Posted by: The Queen of the Blog | 10/08/2009 at 07:59 PM