If you live in the US Bible Belt like me, you know what prejudice is. It's getting picked on because you don't accept Jesus as your savior, people telling you you're going to hell, and living in a majority run society - and if you don't believe in the Christian God, then you might call it hell.

It's ridiculous the amount of people who are uneducated on the spirtuality of others, the thoughts they have. And it's ridulous no one is doing anything about it!

In media, schools, and gouvernment (abortion and gay marriage, anyone?) in America all seem to be Christian driven. Though the majority of the US may be Christian, Europe as a contenent is mostly Christian, and yet they have no problem with it; the same goes for Canada, only in a country's sense.

So what's wrong with America? Religious Tolerence is nearly nonexsistane - and tolerence in general.

What are your thoughts of tolerance, esspecially religious, and where do you see it lacking the US?

...What?

I don't want to say this multiple times. Allen, refer: Shade's Argument for homosexuality. Start at the bottom and go up. Be mindful of the page numbers.[/QUOte

Why do you fear the Apostle Paul?

Tolerence of all kinds has always been lacking in the US, from the non British and blacks, to the Irish and Japanese, to the gays and the non believers. I have grow to respect them all, because by gradmother has stopped believeing, I'm friends with gay people, my best friend was Asian, I'm part Irish, my adopted aunt is black, and the first one is going back to when the US was colonies. We are afraid of what is different, of what we can't see, and of what we don't know. It is hard to take in all of our diversities without having any background with them. Once you can see what you fear, learn about those things, and learn to relate to them, we can stop being afraid, and therefore stop being prejudiced.

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Originally posted by AllenOz:

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Originally posted by Ikki14Reed:

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But doesn't the Bible say that God calls homosexuality an abomination?

God also calls eating shrimp an abomination, as well as wearing polyester. So why would one be more important than the other when they're all in the same section?

Same book yes, but the part on sexual relations included incest and relations with animals. Last I checked, those two were still against the law.

I don't want to say this multiple times. Allen, refer: Shade's Argument for homosexuality. Start at the bottom and go up. Be mindful of the page numbers.

And laws are always right?

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Originally posted by Ikki14Reed:

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But doesn't the Bible say that God calls homosexuality an abomination?

God also calls eating shrimp an abomination, as well as wearing polyester. So why would one be more important than the other when they're all in the same section?

Same book yes, but the part on sexual relations included incest and relations with animals. Last I checked, those two were still against the law.

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God also calls eating shrimp an abomination, as well as wearing polyester. So why would one be more important than the other when they're all in the same section?

I was questioning Musicwriter12's statement. I didn't say I agreed with what extremely religious people say about homosexuals. I think that you should question everything, including your religious scriptures.

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But doesn't the Bible say that God calls homosexuality an abomination?

God also calls eating shrimp an abomination, as well as wearing polyester. So why would one be more important than the other when they're all in the same section?

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treating Homosexuals like lepers

But doesn't the Bible say that God calls homosexuality an abomination?

If God existed, he'd be right winged?

I do not think you could be talking about the Christian God, because THAT God would never support the beliefs of many right winged people I have come in contact with (not to generalize....), such as forcing people who just want to make a life for themselves out, treating Homosexuals like lepers, and supporting murder and chaos. I'm just saying...

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Anyways for some reason it is hard for people to have religious tolerance in America

actually that's more a worldwide thing. It's not nations with the problems it's the faiths themselves

Really America invented the concept of religous tolerance on some level, to paraphrase Thomas Jefferson "It does not bother me wether a man says there is one God or many Gods, it neither skins my knee or picks my pocket". Before that and before America's sadly under-enforced policy of the seperation of church and state, Politics, God and War were intimately intertwined matters and killing your neighbor for not believing the right God (or the state hanging them for that matter) was not an uncommon thing at all.

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I didn't come on here to get lessons on how to state my opinion

It's patently obvious you came here to pick an e-fight and lose it. I think that's clear enough.

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Everyone wants to be right

As much as it sucks we are human, in fact, our survival as individuals hinges on our ability to make the correct choices in the correct situations, thus variety of conflicting choices is naturally threatening to us.

I get angry about a lot of things in the world that I feel are unjust, but religious tolerance is the main thing. It defines so many cultures around the world and to here people who are too ignorant to truly understand something they don'y know anything about just kills me.

I am looking for a way to make people understand that just because a person is from the middle east does not mean they believe in killing people. Just because a person believes in different things does not make them wrong or stupid or scary, they're just different and people need to learn to respect that.

I was born and raised here in the bible belt too.:^) I think America is struggling more with religious Ignorance than tolerance. I'm more specifically picking on Christians(I am Christian) who don't seem to know what Jesus was/and is/and will forever be all about. They would rather ostracize people that are just slightly different from themselves. The best advice I can give anybody on religious tolerance is read the new testament, it is a perfect(you can consider this an opinion) guide concerning religious tolerance.
The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'[a]There is no commandment greater than these." --Mark 12:31

The US is more diverse some of the places that are accepting what the US can not because of religion.

And I believe my "ignorance", as you state, is nothing compared some of the things we do in America.

The fact that people are sensative to religion is not an excuse for a lack of open-mindedness; I'll cry if someone says something bad enough about my religion, but am open to other's beliefs.

People are sensitive about their religions. It's one of those matters where you have close to zero chance of convincing someone that their religious beliefs are wrong. Look at everything in the Middle East; people are willing to die and to kill for their beliefs, or to punish those who believe differently.

To use the fact that there are other countries where Christianity is more prevalent as an argument as to why the United States should have more religious tolerance is ignorant. The more diversity you have, the more tolerance is necessary, and the less likely you are to have acceptance of the variety of opinions.