I believe recommendations from religious people, acting in an official capacity as spokespersons or representatives for their respective organized religious institutions, most definitely have an effect.
Who votes? The church or its citizens? I am fine with no one anywhere making any recommendation what-so-ever. I am not fine with people of one political bent wanting to eliminate recommendations from any organization of another political bent.
Bully for you. I myself am not fine with a religious organization making political proclamations or endorsements and maintaining its tax-exempt status.
Yes, many previous wars were of power. Thatâs not what we have today; itâs more religious.
Thereâs no such thing as a self-help book. When one purchases a book written by someone else in quest of improvement, thatâs called help.
Itâs more than that. Itâs about rules.
Some people are more comfortable with the idea that something bigger is making the rules that they should follow. You go to church (or synagogue, masjid, temple, etc), and you meet people. You make friends. A society is built - from the rules you all got from something bigger.
Science isnât about knowing the answers - itâs about being aware of the questions. Science will always present more questions than answers - and none of those answers will ever be as simple as âGodâ.
Iâve spent years working professionally in politics - particularly in New York City.
The tightest voting block in the city - a group that will reliably vote 95% the way their leader tells them - are Hasidic Jews. Each dynasty is separate (there are many âdynastiesâ, or separate insular groups of Hasidim - each from a different small town in Eastern Europe, and each with their own rebbes, often passed down for hundreds years through a single family) - but they all vote for who their rebbe tells them to.
Not a huge deal when it comes to national politics- but on a local level, it becomes a big deal.
And, once being a member of the news media, I am not in favor of them making political proclamations and endorsements either. Report on the candidates. Report on the issues. People can make up their own minds.
As I said earlier, the Catholic Church makes no recommendations on candidates. I imagine that any denomination that does has another denominations that leans the other way. But I stand by what I say. Tax exempt organizations are equal under the law. The amount of taxes does not make anyone or any organization more American than those that pay a lesser amount or no amount at all. All have the same rights. Therefore, all can make recommendationsâor no one should. I favor the latter.
I disagree. It is still about power, wealth, and territory.
No, they are not.
If I may ask (I dont venture into this forum often), what denomination do you consider yourself?
Agreed. Religion is a means, not an end.
So?..
No.
Eliminating religion would be eliminating freedom of conscience.
As a terrible practitioner of faith, I still value it. IMO there is more than scientific discoveryâan unseen elementâthat explains all of the places on Earth and varied life forms.
Some faiths that have no connection to any prophet, for example, Hinduism, have valuable teachings when it comes to living life. One such teaching is that some level of detachment is necessary to keep relationships joyous rather than burdensome.
Donât want to see faith forced in practice or removal. JMNSHO
Iâm a fan of Camille Paglia, who tears down â60âs Feminism as well as the easily hurt student movements of the day.
Dr. Paglia, herself an atheist, believes teachings about religion are necessary to gain a better understanding of history and that universities, rather than teaching about all of history, have eliminated teaching about antiquity in favor of a modernist perspective, giving students a one sided, perpetual victim POV.
Sheâs right, as are you.
I would prefer that religious people concentrate on helping those in need.
When religion is used as a political tool or for segregation or to push an agenda, it gets all screwed up.
Yes. But only Islam. Nearly every current war involves an Islamic country not being able to get along with itâs neighbors. Islamic countries are among the most oppressive in the world. No other religion kidnaps young girls to uses a s sex slaves. With few exceptions, the rest of the worldâs religions seem to be co-existing just fine.
These days, the only religious folks who actually kill anyone are fundamentalist Muslims.
Oh, I see I should have finished reading the thread before posting about Islam!
I donât think so. You were just fine. Donât be too hard on yourself. My point was that, in present times, Islam is the worlds only remaining religion of conquest. The rest are largely existing peacefully.
