Godless Apostate

[AcGold]

So in a world where there are hundreds of religions why is Catholicism the only one that is acceptbale to question? To go up to a Hindu, a Sikh, a Mormon and openly condemn them is entirely unacceptable but this one religion is completely fair game for society.

I'm not here supporting it, just purely wondering. What is it that compels you to try to disprove something so fanatically while society treats most other religions as untouchable?

As an entirely anti religious person myself I don't get why it's open season on this one religion. You aren't even picking on Catholicism; the religion that holds gold in a fortress and rapes children. You're picking on Christianity a more philosophical belief system than a ritualistic organization. I don't even see that discernment here. I work with a devout Catholic and everyone in the office will just unload on Catholicism with him right there, no basic human respect. I don't get it.

[2Stonedbirds]

Because a certain portion of the population has attributed any criticism towards say Muslims or Jews as being racist. Which of course is stupid but the racism card is quite effective at shouting down conversation.

[Fuzz]

I find it funny you included Mormon. They are widely ridiculed. Mormon underpants? Super secret gold tablets? Have you seen "The Book of Mormon"?

[AcGold]

I have seen the book of Mormon. The distinction is that in social situations they are more protected than Christians. Even Satanists are more protected than Christians, it's the one religion that is open game to ridicule in a group of mixed religions.

You are correct the Mormons are mocked more frequently but even then the gap is rather large in my experience. Book of Mormon and South Park took some deep stabs at it but the Christian hate I see every other day. A collectivized movement against a single religion, or so it seems from my perspective.

[Itse]

Originally Posted by AcGold

So in a world where there are hundreds of religions why is Catholicism the only one that is acceptbale to question? To go up to a Hindu, a Sikh, a Mormon and openly condemn them is entirely unacceptable but this one religion is completely fair game for society.

I seem to have forgotten, where in the West are politicians suggesting we throw all Catholics out of the country? Where in the west is this not happening to Muslims? I must have been living in another reality, one where anti-islamic speech is popular enough to be considered 'populist rhetorics'.

As for Hindus and Sikhs, nobody mostly cares about them in the west, so why talk about them.

Of course if you're actually talking about the WHOLE world, you're just wrong, because in countries where for example Hinduism or Buddhism are major religions there is a ton of criticism presented towards them. But why do it here, where we have our own stuff to deal with? Also, most people here don't know enough about those religions practices and related cultures to say anything about them.

[OBCT]

Originally Posted by AcGold

I have seen the book of Mormon. The distinction is that in social situations they are more protected than Christians. Even Satanists are more protected than Christians, it's the one religion that is open game to ridicule in a group of mixed religions.

You are correct the Mormons are mocked more frequently but even then the gap is rather large in my experience. Book of Mormon and South Park took some deep stabs at it but the Christian hate I see every other day. A collectivized movement against a single religion, or so it seems from my perspective.

I think I know what you're saying, and I've noticed it, too. To me, it's mostly involved in our popular culture and progressive media slowly moving in that direction.

The difference between Christianity and Islam, IMO, is that there are generations worth of widespread first-hand experiences with Christianity in our culture, but much less so with Islam.

Ask anyone if they or their parents have had a negative experience with Christianity (an individual, a church, a charity, Catholic school...) and I bet over 90% will immediately have a answer - one that may be very detailed, and personal, and emotional.

By and large, that first-hand experience hasn't been available for the other major religions (until recently). I think the institutionalization of Christianity has in some large part played a role in it falling out of favour within otherwise politically correct conversations.

[cracher]

Within the context of this of thread, it's not a surprise that Catholics get it more. The eyes on this thread are, in general, English-speaking Albertan hockey fans. I would not be surprised if the majority of this group have (at minimum) some previous-generation roots in some church or other. It's much easier to make fun of something you know well. Similiarly, it's much easier to dodge the bigot bullet for the same reason.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by AcGold

I have seen the book of Mormon. The distinction is that in social situations they are more protected than Christians. Even Satanists are more protected than Christians, it's the one religion that is open game to ridicule in a group of mixed religions.

You are correct the Mormons are mocked more frequently but even then the gap is rather large in my experience. Book of Mormon and South Park took some deep stabs at it but the Christian hate I see every other day. A collectivized movement against a single religion, or so it seems from my perspective.

Yeah, those Satanists, all six of them, totally have it easy compared to the Christians. There are three Satanic churches within walking distance of where I sit right now. The politicians that represent this area are all Satanists and wouldn't have been elected without pledging allegiance to the Dark Lord. Our national anthem even says "Satan keep our land!".

They are taking over but I will do my part to never let it happen. To paraphrase the great Nikki Sixx, we have to shout at the devil, not with the devil.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I find it funny you included Mormon. They are widely ridiculed. Mormon underpants? Super secret gold tablets? Have you seen "The Book of Mormon"?

Plagiarized from the Bible.

The Book of Mormon borrows copiously from the Bible. More than eighteen chapters of Isaiah are contained in it. And hundreds of parallels exist between the Book of Mormon and the New Testament – so much that Mark Twain quipped that the Book of Mormon "seems to be merely a prosy detail of imaginary history, with the Old Testament for a model; followed by a tedious plagiarism of the New Testament" (Roughing It, p. 110).


The most telling proof of plagiarism is the fact that the author of the Book of Mormon copied the King James Version verbatim right down to the style of print. When the translators of the KJV translated from Hebrew to English in the Old Testament, they added clarifying words, italicizing them to let the reader know they were not in the original text.
The author of the Book of Mormon apparently did not realize this. Consequently, in the hundreds of verbatim passages from the Bible, the Book of Mormon includes the italicized words. example Though the book was ostensibly translated from plates written in reformed Egyptian, which were copies from the original Hebrew writings, the only way to account for the italicized words is that the book was not translated from gold plates at all, but rather from a King James Bible.

http://www.mazeministry.com/resource...zappendixc.htm

[peter12]

I actually think that the Mormons have a lot of very admirable qualities, even though, as a Lutheran Protestant, I am bound to view their faith as a abject heresy.

[Kavvy]

Originally Posted by peter12

I actually think that the Mormons have a lot of very admirable qualities, even though, as a Lutheran Protestant, I am bound to view their faith as a abject heresy.

You don't believe we are meant to question and challenge our religion, but instead bound to every deceleration of our religions?

[2Stonedbirds]

The Mormons really do have great family values. Among other things, but they do have strong families.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by 2Stonedbirds

The Mormons really do have great family values. Among other things, but they do have strong families.

Or they have really good PR. In my experience (anecdotal, obviously, and not exactly a huge sample population) Mormons are just like everyone else. Cheaters, boozers, leavers... and that was just the dads!

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Kavvy

You don't believe we are meant to question and challenge our religion, but instead bound to every deceleration of our religions?

No, that's the point. No one wants to be a "doubting Thomas"

[2Stonedbirds]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

Or they have really good PR. In my experience (anecdotal, obviously, and not exactly a huge sample population) Mormons are just like everyone else. Cheaters, boozers, leavers... and that was just the dads!

I grew up in a community that has a large Mormon population, had many Mormon friends growing up... That wasn't my experience at all. Anecdotal of course.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by 2Stonedbirds

I grew up in a community that has a large Mormon population, had many Mormon friends growing up... That wasn't my experience at all. Anecdotal of course.

Yeah, that probably sounds unfair on my part.

The Mormons I knew/know weren't cheaters and boozers and leavers, just that they were at the same rate as everyone else.

[Kavvy]

nm

[Street Pharmacist]

Nm

[Kavvy]

nm

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Kavvy

odd that you posted this, quoted me and kept your post 25 min after I edited my response to say "nm".....

Sorry. I'm at work and had half finished then came and finished my thoughts later. Didn't realize. I'll delete