"Thou shall not judge." What do you know about what you are judging.
 

I have noticed a common thread with all these topics, they are all about how Christianity is a horrible religion, and how they are judgmental and treat other beliefs with disrespect. So, I was wondering, how do you judge other beliefs? Christan's are not the only ones who judge "non-believers"; Atheists have their fair of judging. I heard many in the past called people who believe in God stupid and ignorant.

I believe that main reason people judge others beliefs is that we do not know much about it to make a "good" judgment. What we do know is what we either learn from a third party or by reading things online.

Today I got onto face book and saw a picture my "bible thumping" cousin had put up as his self image..picture thingy.

It stated that:


What is one belief system out there that you can admit not knowing much about, but still have a opinion about?

Please, no flaming, don't take anything personal if someone says something you don't like about your personal belief.

I don't know a whole lot about Judaism or Islam. I just tend to lump them both in with Christianity (I am aware of some differences between them though, but in general the core tenets are the same)

I don't know much about Judaism, I do know that they do not believe Jesus was the "Messiah". That's about it...They also do not have members in their family sharing the same name, like there are not two Johns. lol

Judaism is based on the Torah, which (from my understanding) is basically the Old Testament only.

To reiterate something I stumbled:

For anyone who doesn't understand retcon (like myself when I first saw this), it's retroactive continuity.

According to John's gospel Christians are not allowed to judge because they judge 'by human standards'. Seriously though people don't need a religion to pass a judgment... some just like to use it as an excuse though.

Una: of course. Human nature is to dissolve oneself from any and all accountability. "I'm not judging, I'm just saying you'll go to hell..."

"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction." Blaise Pascal

Una: Yes, Christians are not SUPPOSE to judge, but they do. They tell others that they will go to hell for believing the way they do. They even judge other "christian" beliefs as well.

Keyori: Thanks for posting that, I keep forgetting that they go by the Koran instead of the whole bible.

The idea behind the Qu'ran is that the angel Gabriel, over the course of some time, revealed the "purified" scripture (i.e. a revised bible, with some extra bits in the end) to the prophet Muhammad in order to reform Abrahamic religion.

Inertia could give you a better generalization than I could though.

To an extent: Yes.

I try not to judge honestly. I think that gossiping and treating others badly because of what they believe is a horrible thing. However; everyone is prone to judging one way or another. Christian, Muslim, Wiccan, Atheist, or a One eyed- One horned- Flying purple- people eater- people are going to judge no matter what. And honestly I believe that God or whomever Deity up there KNOWS this. I don't think you're going to go to hell for it honestly, but it's still not a very nice thing to do.

Something that has been bothering me lately is that some Atheists are complaining that religious people are shoving their religion onto them and then they go and shove their OWN beliefs onto those who are religious. Demanding that there is no God. Hypocritical much?

I honestly don't care what religion, faction, or belief you have (and yes Atheists believe in nothing and so they do have a belief in my opinion). Just as long as you don't shove it onto me. You can worship a rock all you want, just don't hit me with it. It's not just Christians, but it's also others radical Muslims, other radical beliefs, and even those who do not believe in God who can be just as judgmental as anyone else.

I'm a Christian, pretty much nondenominational and I have been told I'm going to hell because I don't believe how someone else thinks I should. Honestly that is VERY WRONG. It's what you take out of the Bible in my opinion. I don't see the Bible as a literal thing, it has been written over and over again (I've taken several lit and history classes on this) and I've come to see the stories as parables.

The Bible was written by MAN not God, it was MAN who translated the words from God. And that's how I see it. That aside; I do believe that men are going to judge no matter what... I just personally try not to judge as much as possible.

Shtona: I don't view it as a claim of innocence, but a deferral of fault.

To use my earlier example, it's not "I'm going to heaven because I'm innocent," it's more, "you're going to hell because it's your fault."

But, that's just how I look at it. Is that actually how it is? I don't really know. That's where you start getting into cognitive dissonance, which is a whole separate topic that I don't consider myself very well-versed in.

Can people fight their nature? Absolutely. Is everyone willing? No.

Foxberry: I always viewed the Bible as a book by man about God.

Ah, very interesting point of view. ^_^ I think I like that.

It's one that I came across recently when researching different translations of original scripture (so I guess not always, lol). No one really denies that man wrote it, but even if it were written by God through man, would it still not be about God and how He expects us to conduct ourselves?

I mean really, you could even still find Old Testament verses somewhat applicable (not in a literal manner of course). For example, take Genesis. Perhaps it's not literally true, but in either case, what does it say about God? One could conclude that it says God expects us to treat the Earth well, that love and compassion are godly things, and that we should be in awe at our surroundings (the creation of the universe and the things within it). Even if you weren't Christian, you could still probably agree with those things, and if you put the Bible into context like that, you can find it applicable to the lives of even athiests.

I have found that the Bible is a much friendlier book when you take it for the big picture instead of nitpicking at details. No, it's not likely that existence as we know it was actually created in a week, but that's really not the point I think.

Very true; you make very valid points. Further still there were three generations (I guess that's a good way to explain it) of writers for just the old testament. I forget the exact names for each 'generation' of the old scriptures.

One thing I have come to find that Genesis is two stories, they are not one whole story in fact. Instead one was possibly created to go against another story in existence by the Babylonians.

Also; another point I've come to learn is that the old testament has evidence of NOT being a totally monotheistic religion after all "You may not take another God before me" and I believe there's a part in the book of Job where God was with his attendants when he visits Job, which were hinted at other gods. In fact the one version I read they WERE lesser gods, and called them that.

However the Bible moved away from being 'pagan' like the closer it got to the New Testament. No doubt pressure from the public, and when it was rewritten by King James's "advisers" (I'd rather not go into him though as he's not someone I really enjoy as he's twisted many of the scriptures to benefit him).

Though I would have to agree with you; if you take the Bible as a whole it's just that, a good book. It has laws that our nation (the US at least and others) were built upon. Laws that we abide by even now; Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not Commit adultery, Obey your mother and father, etc. Those are even laws people who do not believe in God or Gods, believe in.

As for being created in a week, I don't entirely believe it was created in a week. Again a parabel, or perhaps it was a week in God's eyes, but I'm not God. X3

Shtona: go see my bible rant in the gay: yae or nae thread gay, sin or not? thread xD

(and that was on... four or so different passages only)

Shtona; I am Christian. ^^; But I'm assuming you mean Christians as a whole. But it's not just Christians who are judgmental. I mean look at radical Muslims for example; they WILL kill the infidels if they so see fit. And guess what, you and I are both infidels, doesn't matter if you're Christian or not. They have an entire book called the "Sword" which explains how a Muslim cannot be a friend with anyone other than a Muslim, also it explains that Muslims should kill other people who aren't Muslims. However Muslims believe that their Bible is direct word from God.

I have a good friend who is Muslim and she doesn't take that book in account; after all MAN has rewritten the Koran as well. I'm sure Muhammad never intended the book to be so violent; but people have corrupted the religious works of art. At least in my opinion.

Another thing from the Muslim Bible; women are treated like utter crap. There's a verse in it that you SHOULD beat your woman if she does not do what you want her to do. This is emphasized quite a bit actually.

However there are parts in the Christian Bible that are violent as well. I believe there is a verse that says you can beat your slave. Or some really ridiculous ones like you cannot eat shellfish. And many other rules in Leviticus; but a lot of these were REMOVED in the New Testament. I wonder why that is... Hmm? If GOD wrote it, why would he go back on his own words? He wouldn't, in my opinion, again this shows that it was indeed written by man and should NOT be taken completely literal.

Foxberry, I think you'd be extremely interested Mel White and the work he's done on Bible interpretation.

Here's a link~~ (this is one of his more prominent works)

Actually thank you for that. Keyori, I'll have to read it, being that I am a bisexual Christian. Personally I've always seen the situation with homosexuals and the bible; more as a situation that it was "not accepted" in the public's eyes so many hundred/thousands years back. A way for the kings and queens to control the populous amongst other things.

@Shtona: I laughed about the flabbergasted donkey comment you made because in the old testament, a donkey saved a man named Balaam from certain death. The donkey knew more than the supposed loyalist to God.

I believe judging is simply meant for God, if that is your belief. My father is a Pastor in the Bible Belt, and he agrees with me on this, if you want to throw things out at someone about their horrible lifestyle, be prepared to have your mistakes thrown at you. Humans aren't on the same level as God, so they can't do exactly like him. Jesus, and most of the Bible, in my view, is to show that people have always made mistakes and found consequences for it. In this particular section, I think said mistake is to judge another person before admitting you are also flawed. So the idea is to be responsible for only yourself in correcting, and offer advice to your fellows, not chastise them brutally for a flaw...because one day the mirror will appear.

I am not a Christian myself, but have read the Bible 8 or 9 times, simply because it teaches valuable lessons that can apply to any lifestyle. I think viewing the whole picture, not the little details, is how people grow close to God, and those who slam the little details down the 'lost' throats are the ones who create more 'lost,' so don't even judge the Bible, but learn from it, no matter what you believe. It wasn't made to beat your fellow man down with, God can handle that himself.

Foxberry: I'm straight, not a "typical" Christian (I consider myself a weird mix of agnostic-Quaker-Unitarian... yeah, not quite Christian lol) and I still like to read it :)

Keyori; X3 Interesting. I prefer to call myself an agnostic-Christian more than anything. I'm Episcopalian from baptismal but... They're pretty lenient (at least the church that I used to go to) and are really understanding. Though I moved and I've not found a church I really like in all truth. But anyway lmao I've so drifted off the topic. Sorry for hijacking the thread mods. ><;