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Tolerance? Sure.
Respect? Well, no... If you had to ask...
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tinyE: 11 minutes in and a fight has broken out in the "Tolerance" thread.

Oh yeah, I have tons of hope for humanity. :P
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misteryo: I think humanity is as much a bunch of shits as you probably do. I'm certainly one.

But I have hope. For me and for everybody else, too.

And I don't think it's fighting to make a plea for tolerance. Or to insist on what tolerance is and what it isn't. Or to continue to plead for tolerance even if other people reiterate their intolerance, or say that it's hopeless.

I've thought about starting this thread for a while, and I'm prepared to continue it.

Cheers.
I was being a smart ass. I like the thread and certainly meant no disrespect to you or it with my post.

One interesting note, and this is the absolute truth and pay attention because you will NEVER see me this honest again: I love humans to a fault. Unfortunately that makes me the easiest person in the world to screw over because I inherently trust EVERYONE and refuse to believe that anyone could intentionally and with malicious intent actually cause another human being distress or harm.
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chevkoch: While it should be respected that you identify as Christian, other opinions than your own about religion deserve your respect as well ;)
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misteryo: I have respect for people who aren't Christian. I have respect for people who think Christianity is untrue.

What I am asking for is a general tolerance for others. And tolerance does mean ceasing to blame religions, any one religion, atheism, humanism, whatever. Tolerance is important for civilized society.

So, yes, I am asking people to change what they are saying toward each other on this forum in the interest of tolerance and peace and civilization. I don't believe I am being disrespectful by doing so.
I didn't see anyone being intolerant to a person really. Well, except for the ninja giveaway trolls...which they deserve.
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Telika: <bla bla snip>
Different religions may use different idioms, but they're not 'mere grammar'.
They're belief systems and a way of life, calling them anything else might not be in tone with the topics title.
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misteryo: I have respect for people who aren't Christian. I have respect for people who think Christianity is untrue.

What I am asking for is a general tolerance for others. And tolerance does mean ceasing to blame religions, any one religion, atheism, humanism, whatever. Tolerance is important for civilized society.

So, yes, I am asking people to change what they are saying toward each other on this forum in the interest of tolerance and peace and civilization. I don't believe I am being disrespectful by doing so.
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pimpmonkey2382: I didn't see anyone being intolerant to a person really. Well, except for the ninja giveaway trolls...which they deserve.
We've had plenty of threads where some variation of "religions cause all the trouble in the world" is expressed, and then many posters jump on the bandwagon and just start trashing religion and ridiculing believers - in general, as well as specific religions. This is the behavior I'm calling intolerant.
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pimpmonkey2382: I didn't see anyone being intolerant to a person really. Well, except for the ninja giveaway trolls...which they deserve.
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misteryo: We've had plenty of threads where some variation of "religions cause all the trouble in the world" is expressed, and then many posters jump on the bandwagon and just start trashing religion and ridiculing believers - in general, as well as specific religions. This is the behavior I'm calling intolerant.
Ridiculing or criticizing religion and people who kill others in the name of religion isn't criticizing all believers.
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pimpmonkey2382: I don't blame any one religion, I blame them all.
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misteryo: That would be the opposite of what I'm asking for.
but that is the truth and tolerating denial would be worse
The only people talking about a magical bearded white man in the sky are self-professed atheists. I'll stand with you, misteryo. I don't know your actual beliefs but I'm sure they are not stupid, and perhaps not so different from mine.
high rated
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Sufyan: The only people talking about a magical bearded white man in the sky
Santa Clause?
Why is there a thread like this every other month? Is there blashphemy going on somewhere in this board?

I'd wager most of this board is in fact some variation of christian, or if not they aren't really completely outnumbered by atheist either. In this board i've never seen anyone getting aggreively downrepped or ridculed for his beliefs, I've seen a lot of civil discussion though.

So why are we having this "I'm a christian don't make fun of me you silly atheists" threads every now and then?
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Telika: <bla bla snip>
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Smannesman: Different religions may use different idioms, but they're not 'mere grammar'.
They're belief systems and a way of life, calling them anything else might not be in tone with the topics title.
Everything is a "belief system" and a "way of life", this is not relevant here. The point is that their content (let's say their moral content) fluctuate a lot, and can be dressed up with various different "belief systems". You can refer, for instance, to a belief in "hell" and "paradise", yet hold the same discourse content (in terms of moral obligations) as a person who doesn't. That level of representation ("belief system") is accessory, and can be switched for several others, while retaining the same message and the same prescriptions. Structurally, it's a simple change of flavor, of form, for what actually matters underneath. So yes, it does function like a language. And focusing too much on that form instead of the content is what generates useless oppositions and cross-accusations. As if "which word is used for that" was more important than the intended meaning.
On a Games forum people some dude is talking about religion. This reminds me about one time (I think I was playing TF2) when one crazy kid (he sure wasn't mentally developed to be an adult) start crying that I should respect gays and all the similar crap. I don't even knew he was one and I didn't even made a remark about it. At least not one that I was aware of.
Have to say, except for one thankfully buried thread, that shall not be named, I haven't seen anything that could be perceived as intolerance. Perhaps in the giveaway or 'open this thread' threads. I wouldn't know since I don't know what goes on in either. (I just can't bring myself to open the latter :P )

I suppose in the end we should be wary of how we define intolerance. If I were to say, for example, that "religion on the whole is the most successful circle-jerk scam in the history of mankind" (just as an example ;) ) that doesn't automatically mean that I am being intolerant of a religious person on the forum. Sure it might be interpreted as belittling towards someone faith, but it's not the same as intolerance. In this hypothetical circumstance, there would still be tolerance on my part (in principle*), and more importantly friendly and open-armed acceptance (in principle*).

* mandatory disclaimer added for the jerks of the world...

EDIT : I regret the wording of the above paragraph, but it illustrates a point I think. Religion is sensitive topic for a lot of people and its discussion very easily leads to nasty exchanges across its plethora of dividing lines. Almost as bad as the dividing lines in movie fandom. I liked Godzilla (1998) and I loved Independence Day (You might not know how to get a virus on a UFO, but YOU"RE NOT JEFF GOLDBLUM). There I said it!
Anyways, its far more fun and comforting to hang out with people with common interests, like gaming. That should be the focus. Bringing something like religion into the forum is sorta like inviting your grandma to your bachelor party. It's just not right :P That's why I never engage in those nasty exchanges - I only try to make jokes with other members :) Also I hope I didn't offend you with with my 'hypothetical self' statement above. Please don't take it seriously - for the purposes of this thread it matters zilch what I think.
Post edited May 18, 2014 by Matewis
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OlivawR: On a Games forum people some dude is talking about religion. This reminds me about one time (I think I was playing TF2) when one crazy kid (he sure wasn't mentally developed to be an adult) start crying that I should respect gays and all the similar crap. I don't even knew he was one and I didn't even made a remark about it. At least not one that I was aware of.
Well tolerance for gays would be something I would endorse...
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OlivawR: On a Games forum people some dude is talking about religion. This reminds me about one time (I think I was playing TF2) when one crazy kid (he sure wasn't mentally developed to be an adult) start crying that I should respect gays and all the similar crap. I don't even knew he was one and I didn't even made a remark about it. At least not one that I was aware of.
Sounds to me like the kid might have been gay, possibly in a situation where religious people were giving them grief and making them feel like they were some kind of horrible or wrong person for being that way. Or maybe they had friends who are gay and had to watch people treating them like crap because of it. Maybe the person talking religion in-chat triggered the automatic response from the kid.