a meditation on favoritism...

Friday, June 8, 2001 by kenray | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk

firstly, don't get me wrong.
as a practicing Nazerite, i would love it if i could show my Bible at teh QT Mart and get half off my cigarettes...

Whilst browsing the coolplayer section, i notice a subset for "Christian"

does this not invite the question,
"If we subset for one religion, should we not subset for all?"

why not a "Hindu" section, or a "Buddhist" section, or a "Jewish" seciton?
Are we Christians so prevalent and artistically active that we deserve a subset?
Or is this a nod to the English speaking, Western Hemispherical crew who dominate this side fo the planet?

Don't get me wrong. I practice, adn i pray, and I love the special treatment.
Still, soemhting about that just doesn't strike me as fair.


"And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you."

Yep, thats what HE said.

110 Reply 11 Referrals
First Previous Page 3 of 6 Next Last
kenray
Reply #41 Monday, June 11, 2001 2:02 AM
T-man,

thanks.
and to all who commented here, thank you too.

i would liek to re-iterate a point on public prayer that was previously mentioned.

If you have it at all, you will have to have it for all. and tho you may think it a good idea for all people everywhere to hear you start with

"Our Father, Who Art in Heaven",

you must be smart enough to realize that, the second you get that, some other person will start up with

"O Great and Lower King Satan:"

and do you really want your kids hearing that?

craeonics
Reply #42 Monday, June 11, 2001 3:56 AM
Doesn't public prayer depend on the school you're on? If you're on a christian school you have a public christian prayer, on a catholic school a public catholic prayer and on a islamic school an islamic prayer. On a non-religious school, you should have no public prayer, for it is a non-religious school.

paxx
Reply #43 Monday, June 11, 2001 6:33 AM
Crae, I am not sure how the school system works in the US, but in Canada, we have 2 kind of schools: public school (free) and private schools ($$$). Private schools are as you said, some have a faith (Catholic, Jewish, Islamic, etc.), and some don't. But in the public system, the debate here used to be wether religion has or not a place in the public sector. In Canada, the crucifix that used to be on every wall of every classroom, courtroom, hospital room, etc., have been removed some years ago.

craeonics
Reply #44 Monday, June 11, 2001 8:06 AM
Over here in the country beneath the sea, most of the schools are public (free) which come in all flavours (religion based or not). So if you want to have prayers and such, you put your kid on a school with a religious base and if you specifically do not want that, you go for a school with a non-religiious base. And if you don't care about all of that (like my parents did) you put you're kid on a school that is close by and ahs a good feel. Which is why my atheist self ended up on a christian school.

feline
Reply #45 Monday, June 11, 2001 9:01 AM
personally i feel that people should be allowed to reach their own conclusions based on various "facts". i certainly dont hold with schools trying to force feed children christian religion. but having said that, the school i went to had a very strange method of teaching about a "loving" god.

my abiding memories of religious teaching at school are:
a) turn the other cheek, i.e. it was fine to be at the receiving end of violence, but to retaliate, ever, was a terrible thing, to be punished heavily. hardly a workable solution in the playground
the bible story where some children taunted a holy man, so god sent a bear down from the hills to rip the children into little shreds of flesh.

the net effect was to drive me a very long way away from any form of christian belief. i have thought for many years that belief comes from within, not from without.

i have concluded that a lot of "sensible" religious people seem to share a large amount of common ground, like acceptance, forgiveness, love of god. perhaps if people could focus more on the things they have in common rather than the differences a lot of these problems over different religions would be a lot smaller?

craeonics
Reply #46 Monday, June 11, 2001 9:16 AM
You're a weird cat, feline (and I ain't talking Jive here). But your conclusion is valid. People should focus on what they have in common and not focus on where they differ (as they do now). But als, only cats and basement dwellers stand far enough from the masses to reach that conclusion...

feline
Reply #47 Monday, June 11, 2001 9:26 AM
perhaps there in lies the solution
i am reminded of that musical cats, and also of catwoman in the second batman movie. both imply it is possible to convert some people into cats.
for the rest, all we need to do is find a nice large basement that isnt currently being used, and lock them into it until they start to see sence.
admitadly this is a fairly extream solution, but extream situations call for extream solutions

kenray
Reply #48 Monday, June 11, 2001 10:21 AM
well, the issue of public prayer, adn genereal expressions of ones religious beleif actually extends outside the schoolyard.

Schools are the easiest place to identify and realate to the issue, but there are other situations....

How must my Muslim friend feel when he is sworn in to a US Court? (in the US, to be sworn in to testify, you must place your hand on the CHristian Bible and pledge an oath).

...............

Hilariously, as a Christian, i have also noticed antother thing about "us".

It appears that our GOd is the only one worth picking on in art and the public press.

Notice, you will see no controversial painting called "Piss Buddha", neither will you ever hear Tori Amos singing, "Vishnu, sometiems you don't understand..."

OF course, the Christian God is like, the only one, who teaches the aformentioded cheek-turning.

If some smart aleck visual artist put a painting in the Met called "Piss Allah", he probably wouldn't live very long...

Doreen
Reply #49 Monday, June 11, 2001 10:41 AM
all these years pass and ppl still cannot handle even the word "Christian" hehe
(must be the power within that word)

Paxx to clarify... I was not joking

but yes I feel this site is public and to put only one category of Christian will invoke trouble on the site, and if the person running the site is not Christian he should just put "Religion" however if the person running the site is Christian it should remain Christian so he stands by his faith and does not change to please others!

my prob was seeing T-Man being pushed into a corner and I hate seeing ppl be "run out" of their faith...

Christians are NOT suppose to compromise to please other ppl or compromise their faith.

(and yes this all being said from a bad Christian female who has trouble staying on that narrow path)


paxx
Reply #50 Monday, June 11, 2001 10:42 AM
About courts, I don't know if you have the same rights in the US, but in Canada, although by default you are asked to swear on the bible, you have the option to swear on the holy book of your faith if you request it, or even to simply make a "solemn oath", no book required.

craeonics
Reply #51 Monday, June 11, 2001 10:47 AM
Doreen> Staying on the path is easy, just keep moving forward! Ofcourse, I'm the person to take every narrow twist and turn there is, so you won't find me on that path.

paxx
Reply #52 Monday, June 11, 2001 10:47 AM
Doreen, if the site was publicly advertised as a Christian site, then I'd agree with you. If this was "Catholic Wincutomize" then I'd say fine, since people coming here would know by coming here that it was a site targeting only catholic people (I say "catholic, not "christian" because even the christian faith has different flavours).
But since it's not the case, and since this site welcomes people from all faiths, ages and races, no one should be advantaged before another one. For the same reason, you could not put a "Caucasian" section without adding the other races, not could you put a "16-25 years old" sectin without adding the other ages as well.

craeonics
Reply #53 Monday, June 11, 2001 10:49 AM
Kenray> That's because you live in the West. I bet those pictures do exist... albeit to a lesser account. Most of the rest of the world still lives in medieval conditions, so I don't expect much freedom of expression there.

paxx
Reply #54 Monday, June 11, 2001 11:28 AM
Kenray, craeonics, ever heard of a novel titled "The Satanic Verses", by Salman Rushdie?
It caused quite a stir in the Islamic world, to say the least...

Doreen
Reply #55 Monday, June 11, 2001 11:36 AM
again

this was my problem...
my prob was seeing T-Man being pushed into a corner and I hate seeing ppl be "run out" of their faith...

as for me crae I'm not walkin on that path and I know it right now...
and it ain't as easy as "keep moving forward"

Doreen
Reply #56 Monday, June 11, 2001 11:39 AM
Funny my father is atheist (sp?)
and he still "made" my brother get married in a Church, Big Church wedding, what is that?

go figure

paxx
Reply #57 Monday, June 11, 2001 11:49 AM
Doreen, it's just tradition.
Although I don't believe in God, I still got my son baptised, and my second son (dued to show his face next week!! yeahh!) will also be baptised. I know I don't make sense, but it's for the ceremonial, the tradition... I can't welcome my children into this world by just filling out a government form...
And besides, I'm not a convinced athiest. I just don't THINK God exists, but I could be wrong.

Doreen
Reply #58 Monday, June 11, 2001 11:54 AM
hehe another one going through the "tradition" thing, hehe

well paxxy "I" know there is a God, I just am a very disobedient daughter to my Heavenly Father and don't know if I'm gonna make it to go be with him someday.

I'm so happy to hear the baby is coming so soon! wow how the time passed! glad she is doing well

jtfolden
Reply #59 Monday, June 11, 2001 4:49 PM
I'm in total agreement with you paxx... If you host a public site and are attempting to provide a community for everyone then personal beliefs must remain just that, personal. That's the price you pay for having a site targeted at the general public. Otherwise, you should rename the site to "The straight, white, single, blonde-haired, male, Christian Wincustomize".



Doreen
Reply #60 Monday, June 11, 2001 5:19 PM
HAHA

not all Christian surely fit that descrip but...
hehe

Please login to comment and/or vote for this skin.

Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:

  • Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums and downloading skins.
  • Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
  • Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
  • It's simple, and FREE!
Login
First Previous Page 3 of 6 Next Last

Home | About | Privacy | Upload Guidelines | Terms of Service | Help
Copyright © Stardock Corporation. All Rights Reserved.


web-wc01