Why do some people need to run down other religions...

1. 77

   Uninvited Writerposted 14 years ago

   in order to feel good about their own?

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      pisean282311posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      guess it is human nature ...

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      nell79posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      My best guess is that it has to do with one's own insecurities and fears of what they don't know or understand. It could also be a way of for them to reaffirm to themselves that they've made the right choice because...(insert what they believe is wrong about the other religion).
      
      Religion isn't the only thing people do this with. A person's lifestyle, traditions and beliefs in all walks of life are subject to this. It's just human nature.

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   3. 57

      Beelzedadposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      That's what their religions teach them to do.

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      sandra rinckposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      IDK, you get the same result when someone puts theirs up.

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      pennyofheavenposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Its a learned thing. Unlearn the habit and learn a better habit of respecting others totally and unconditionally. Allowing people to be different and to have their own point of view whether it agrees with your own or not, is far more rewarding than the learned habit of running others down because of what they believe.

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      Baileybearposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      a lot of people can't handle that not everyone agrees with them.  Even those without a religion get attacked.

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         pennyofheavenposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         True enough. Not being able to handle that not everyone agrees with us usually is a good sign to explore our own convictions. Emotions can be very useful or not. This applies to any area of our lives.

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      livelongerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      They might be dogmatic and authoritarian, and believe that everyone should believe the exact same thing they do.
      
      This goes for certain people who are religious or anti-religious. They are usually the same type of people, and I often find that even when they switch belief systems, the propensity for dogma and "evangelicalism" stay with them.
      
      As far as I'm concerned, if your beliefs don't affect anyone else, they shouldn't provoke the sort of hostility and anger that they often do.

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         Jeramiposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Ssooo   every body needs to quiditt !!

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2. 60

   rotlposted 14 years ago

   Thanks for starting this thread Uninvited Writer. I have been dismayed to see how much of that is going on in this forum... very sad.
   
   It's obvious that some people have an agenda. They ask these ridiculous "questions" really just to convey their (often hateful) views. It really just comes down to their intentions, which are to bash, ridicule, and belittle another faith and its adherents. They know how to push people's buttons by using hot topics (like terrorism) to get people riled up. And sadly, the mob mentality takes over and others with similar views join in. Sadder than seeing people post such things is people not calling them out on it and kicking them out. I thought the HubPages community was better than that.

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3. 57

   Jeramiposted 14 years ago

   Religions are just like everyone else.  With flaws.
   
     And it is easier for one to see the dirt on the back side of some one else's knees than it is to see their own. 
   
      Gotta drive across town now but saw this post and couldn't help but comment first

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4. 60

   qwarkposted 14 years ago

   Pls explain why there are more than 40,000 protestant sects (cults) worldwide. They all  disagree with each other in ref to thier interpretation of the OT and the NT. Then ya have catholicism which claims it is the only correct belief in the bible and this "god thing."
   Oh my! then ya have islam and judaism! It seems that all of them have problems with each other in ref to their scriptures and beliefs.
   Why would ya suppose this is? Or am I being too optimistic in hoping for a logical, well reasoned answer?  Hmmmm?
   Qwark

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      Jeramiposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Cause we are all people.
        For no other reason,  just cause we do.  Seems every does it.

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5. 62

   awoodogposted 14 years ago

   I think it is because nobody wants to be wrong. I haven't talked to many religous people who don't think thier religion is the right one. To each thier own I say. We are all the same, and as such have the right to see things through our own eyes. Treat oneanother the way we would like to be treated. Be honest and try to do good.

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      kirstenblogposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I don't know your religious beliefs but from the post I love the 'meat and bones' of your beliefs. If more where like you we could have some shamshing conversations here

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6. 56

   TheNeoHumanistposted 14 years ago

   I think people need something to believe in. Otherwise they wouldn't be willing to suspend their reason and take the leap of faith so easily. Life without a belief in anything - something - is exceptionally difficult.

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      Jeramiposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      And this is what you believe.
      
        If this makes life more bearable for you, that is a good thing..

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      Slarty O'Brianposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      @TheNeoHumanist
      
      I'm sorry to barge in but I just wrote a hub about lack of belief in anything so It struck me as interesting that you mentioned it here. We are told that faith is a requirement. People can not live without belief of some kind. But it isn't true and it isn't all that hard to do away with in your life.
      
      The simplest explanation is you adopt a wait and see attitude toward anything speculative and simply accept facts as facts. You do not need to believe in facts because that is redundant. They are or are not facts regardless of whether you believe one way or the other. You accept them until they are proven wrong. Belief in anything speculative is just wrong because you have no real basis for believing it.  So belief is not required at all at any level.
      
      And I don't mean one needs to cultivate a negative belief either. Don't get me wrong. You can rid your self of all forms of belief and be happier for it.
      
      In the context of this thread, the reason people hang on to belief is complicated, but it boils down to a couple major points. First of all there is a human desire for instant answers. It's almost a cultural crime to say I don't know and I'm happy to not know for now. I'll wait for new evidence if any ever appears. In the mean time I have no belief about the subject one way or the other.
      
      The other major aspect to it is hope. If you don't know for sure but you can hold on to a faith, you always have hope. It's like playing a lottery. Until the numbers appear and are read out, you always have hope you might win. Once you know, you realize you are a few dollars poorer. An ever lasting life, for instance, is a big hope. You might see lost loved one's etc. So if you are wrong then not knowing for sure is the best thing for some people.
      
      So that's the danger of belief as well, you see. Once you know the facts, if your hope is shattered, you can cause yourself a lot more pain because you made that hope part of you and it was ripped away.
      
      So the solution to existential pain is simply stop believing anything. To me it is better than holding on to faith in the absence of evidence or in fact, often against the evidence.
      
      And let me make it clear that lacking belief does not mean you can't have opinions. You can base them on facts and make sure you are willing to drop them if they prove wrong.

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7. 57

   Jeramiposted 14 years ago

   Why do some people need to run down other religions... ??
   
   
     Cause they don't know no better.

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8. 76

   kirstenblogposted 14 years ago

   I think for some the problem stems from frustration. I have seen just about every belief system that is popular with this or that group of hubbers get put down, so the Atheists get put down, the Christians, the Muslims, the Jews and if we had more Buddhists posting here they would too I bet. For myself I can sympathize as it gets progressively harder to respect those whose beliefs include disrespecting others beliefs. When I see hypocrisy I loose respect faster then you can say 'hypocrite'. On the other hand I have the highest respect for those who just practice and don't preach, they are the most likely to expand my mind and introduce new ideas and concepts

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      Unchained Graceposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Essentially, religion in and of itself is manmade. Therefore, we are bound to have different doctrines although there is one Bible (in many different versions) these days. Typically, because doctrine is different for many, there shall no doubt be conflicts. This is to be expected.
      
      While everyone has their own favorite character in the Bible, mine has and always will be Blind Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46-52). My reasoning is that Bartimaeus represents one who got tired of being sick and tired. He got up off the roadside and did something about it. Sometime ago, I wrote "The 7 Key Steps to Deliverance" based on this passage.
      
      As one who was formerly homeless and a stroke victim, I could relate to Bartimaeus. He represents hope for so many with the caveat that we must first own the issue and really be focused on doing something about it. At one time or another, we all feel the drag of carrying our past with us which amounts to useless baggage. W can use it as a learning tool and as a testimony but not as an anchor. I thank you for your time.

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9. 61

   Lisa HWposted 14 years ago

   I know there are people who just like to run down other people's beliefs (because it's apparently some version of "fun" for them), but I almost wonder if the reason there seems to be so much of it on here is that at least a certain percentage of what looks like "running down" is actually a matter of a lot of people just getting sick of seeing thread after thread of someone else's piping off about his own religion.
   
   True, nobody has to come to the forums at all if they don't like what is sometimes - like - 60% threads (latest threads) that are someone preaching or otherwise focusing on their own religion; but if someone thought he'd like to dabble in the forums for awhile, only to end up feeling like it's "all religious threads", he's likely to kind of start resenting that.  So, either someone who is sick of the preaching either leaves (and kind of resents it) or else stays and skips over all the religious stuff until he finds the sometimes rare thing that's not a religious thread.
   
   I'm not defending "running down" of someone else's beliefs, but if someone's here anyway, the chances he'll start to get irked after awhile with all the religious threads are good.
   
   Again, I'm not defending running down someone's beliefs.  I'm just saying I think one reason people start to get to post things that look like "running down" may be a matter of people eventually thinking, "Hey, I've been irked by all these threads for a long time.  I feel like doing a little 'talking back' today."
   
   Even outside the forums, and just in life in general; I think a lot of people who would otherwise "live and let live" get irked after they've had enough people approach them, preach to them, lecture to them, about one religion of another.  They get sick of it and decide they're going to "talk back" (or even go on the offensive).  I'm not saying it's right, and I'm not saying that a whole lot of people who mind their business and don't try to force their own religion down everyone else's throats "deserve" to have their religious beliefs run down for no reason.
   
   I think, though, a lot of people are pretty much up to their eyeballs in other people's religious beliefs, and a lot more of them may even be angry that they once had religious beliefs they've since discarded after being disappointed - and voila, you've got a lot of "running down" and "borderline running down" going on.  I'm not really a lot of it is about trying to make oneself feel better about his own beliefs.  Some is, but I'm not sure that's the main reason for a lot of it.
   
   One other thought, though, is that sometimes people honestly do like a good discussion/debate about one belief or another.  Sometimes, maybe, "debate", can appear to be "running down", when - really - it's only bringing up an opposing concept.  There can be a fine line between "running down" and "opposing concept", and some people's bar for that fine line is lower than others.

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10. 74

    Eaglekiwiposted 14 years ago

    A need to be heard perhaps?
    
    Attention or vanity ,listen to me ,Im better educated ,so I know more -arogance,all of the above
    
    buggared if I know anymore

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       pennyofheavenposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       lol

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