As a pagan I can happily say other pagans are generally tolerant and accepting of other peoples faiths and beliefs. ( Generally, and I don’t pretend that means all and always ok? )

Why is it that others can’t do the same? Christians and Muslims spring to mind primarily as the obvious main offenders in religious bigotry.

Although I think it’s a human nature thing, where we can’t seem to accept that someone can believe something different to us and still be ‘right’. The amount of times I have people getting all frothy at the mouth when I say I don’t ‘believe’ in their god but accept that they do.

You know sometimes though I really just want to spank people like this in the gob with a two by four, and what stops me? Well I could say because I am superior to them, but I don’t think I am, it’s just that I am happy for them to believe what they like as long as they don’t expect me to.

Just out of interest though do you think they would have been so keen to disrupt the event had it been Muslim fundamentalists and not placid Buddhists? Makes you think doesn’t it?

( Yes it is me the real Serai, I’ve been lurking for a while Les. )

Makes me want to go to that church and stand around hollering “I’m an athiest! Boogaboogabooga!” at the top of my lungs. But, of course, living in West Michigan, the Christian Conservative Center Of The Universe, does that to a person. Feh.

did

I’m from Grand Rapids, and I live there and I can tell you we’re pretty high up there in the asshole department.

And yet here, when the Queen, the head of the British Anglican church, visited an Islamic mosque, she was warmly welcomed.

Why can’t we all just get along?

Serai hit the nail right on the thumb, I think.  They pick on people whom they count on to be nicer than they are (i.e. who won’t fight back).  Just like the old joke about why animal activists harass fur-wearing women instead of leather-wearing bikers.

Animal activists… Another pet peeve.

Serai,
How many Pagans are there compared with Christians or Muslims? How can you hope to get 10’s of thousands of people that all call themselves Christian to all agree on every aspect of what that means? Moreover, there is going to be a whole rainbow of attitudes amoungest them, from militant to pacifist. It’s possible that you’ve been exposed to more religious bigots amoung Muslims and Chrisitans, just because there are more of them (Muslims and Christians) than pagans around. Further, It’s the obnoxious ones that are going to get noticed. The quiet, peace loving ones may never even let you know what religion they are (the squeaky wheel...).

Give it time, when Paganism is the dominant religion in the world, I’ll be saying what you said, only about Pagans.

Or to summate: folks is folks. (or would “peeps is peeps” be more hip?)

It seems to me (as a Christian) that there things going around that are a lot more ”offensive to God” than a bunch of Tibetan monks singing down at the Basilica.  Have they run out of hungry to feed, homeless to shelter, or prisoners to comfort in Grand Rapids?  Yeesh.

I just had a lightbulb go off. Isn’t it odd that the vast majority of Christains and Catholics are the one day a week kind that seem to use their religion as a petty excuse to hide behind when they voice their prejudices? If there’s an almighty spirit that disagrees on one thing, that means its okay to be prejudiced! Woo-Hoo! I’m beginning to understand why many KKK members at least claim to be religous. And before you start to the comment box, I don’t dislike ALL people of popular religious beliefs, I know quite a few who actually believe what they say they do and practice a lifestyle that is fitting to those beliefs. For that I respect them. And hey, suprise, suprise, NONE of them are any less accepting of an athiest, homosexual, insert critisized group of your choice, than they would be of another Christian. Strange how that works, ain’t it?

*** Dave, they would like you to think that… I wouldn’t comfort any prisioners here, haha. We ship them to a jail in another county. As an atheist in Grand Rapids I’m sometimes annoyed by seemingly religious people. In downtown Grand Rapids it’s mostly Catholic, but the further you go out into the suburbs on all sides it’s mostly Christian.

There are plenty of people who need help right here in GR, but these assholes are too busy being just that. Assholes.

Having been born and raised in GR, I just recently moved to Allegan last year. I must say, the amount of Catholics is next to nil. Downtown GR can be beautiful without a church every two feet.

I agree with your opinion as well. Catholicism may be a very old religion (not as old as Tibetan, Pagan, etc), but they’re one of the only religions who causes problems with their loud mouths.

All religions are stereotyped to some degree, however, Catholics are the only ones who actually live up to the stereotypes - perfectly I might add.

About those “traditional Catholics” i don’t think God was behind anything they were protesting against. I mean, why dont they protest every organization that offends God.  Give me a break if they had any respect for God they wouldnt speak for him and just pray about it instead. Lets be for real, any religion that bashes another religion to feel self-rightous or to boost there own agenda and not Gods, doesnt deserve to call themselves a religion. I wouldn’t give a dime in donations to any religion that uses what they feel other religions do wrong to ensure their own religion.  If they have to prove their religion is the right religion by critizing other religions, than thats all the proof i need to know their full of their own BS.

First of all Christian and Catholic are two very different religions. Catholics have done alot in “the name of god” the crusades for examples. They are one of the largest group of hypocrites in the world. Christian however are supposed to be following the Bible but their main focus is on themselfs and living their lives in “the right way” Catholics do alot of stupid things because of their ignorance of the Bible (plus their bible has alot of extra junk added in by varrious popes) Everything about the Catholic religion goes against the Bible they are supposed to be following. Catholics have no right to do what they have done to numorous religions including the Christians.

Oh my.

“This Christian denomination isn’t Christian” and the “Sola Scriptura” card played in one post. On an atheist forum.

Just when you think you’ve seen it all.

Kara did come to an atheist site to bash on Catholics, likely because you think you won’t find any?  You’re ability to discuss and debate theology I’m sure is very profound as your conclusory statements indicates.  My take on your post is this, asshats come in every stripe, and you have proven this with your post.

For those reading the article closely, you recognized through your reading comprehension skills that the monks were given permission to perform in a Catholic church.  You also recognized that Catholics did not disrupt the performance.  This was evident when you read:

Members of St. Margaret Mary, who call themselves traditional Catholics but are not recognized by the diocese,

Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about traditional Catholics:

“Traditionalist Catholic and Traditional Catholic are broad terms used to denote Roman Catholics who reject some or all of the reforms that were instituted after the Council, in particular the revised rite of Mass, which was promulgated in 1969 by Pope Paul VI as part of the process of implementing the Council’s decrees.”

As far as I know, there are not all that many of them.

In addition to stupenduously boring apologetic battles, Protestants are quick to denounce Catholics as not being Christian in an transparent attempt to cherry-pick their historical heritage.

This is all very entertaining and even more so when performed in front of a largely atheistic audience.