Anyone non-religious here? Please be nice!

[BlackBart]

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Yes and I have heard people from different religions saying nasty things about other religions.
I know a couple of Buddhists and one person who practices Wicca and they sound like they have interesting beliefs, more toward nature. I have never heard them make negative comments about any other religion but that is not saying they don't.
The worst comments I have heard is between Jehovah Witness's and Catholic's.

 

[thaiturkey]

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You're right, no work on the coop yesterday and perhaps not today. The sudden drop in temperature is a shock and more of a problem than having the building words wet. The poults were eventually allowed out but slept under netting in the outhouse last night.

I can understand that some individuals might be thought to be less than courteous to others, especially to minority ethnic groups. But who is it that is qualified to decide what should be the standards? In any case, trainers appointed by an employer would be amongst the last to have any credibility unless the employers and his managers first underwent training and showed that it had improved their attitude to employees. Individuals who really do have a bad attitude won't be changed by the training - but at least the employer can stand up against a charge of discrimination in the workplace by saying he gave training and so cannot be blamed. Perhaps that's the real reason behind this latest fad.

SunnyDawn, I take your point about discussion of child abuse in religious establishments. I wondered why it has not already come up but you have explained it.

 

[thaiturkey]

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Whether or not a word or phrase is 'bad language' depends in part on the society in which we happen to be. Some groups will accept the worst of swear words without batting an eyelid. Some people cannot complete a sentence without swearing but their friends aren't offended. In other societies there will be an unwritten list of words that are not 'polite' and should not be used. The list varies from group to group and even time to time. The men may not swear at work or in front of women but they may make up for it over a few beers in the evening or when they catch a big fish at the weekend. If you really want to swear badly and get away with it, by the way, learn a few words from a foreign language. You will have the double pleasure of really letting off steam but without anyone knowing what you said.

Curliet's example shows just how far the conrol freaks will go. They will set themselves up as creator of the rules (I don't recall having read teachings by Christ about swearing) and their enforcer - but they can't cope with the question 'Why?'

 

[thaiturkey]

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Buddhism encourages its followers to be tolerant of other people and their beliefs and behaviour. It's a very non-judgmental philosophy and has no god-the-creator. Therefore, of course, Buddhism is very tolerant of its own followers. The principle of Kharma underpins everything - we create our own rewards and punishments by our behaviour towards others.

However, humans being what they are, there are lapses. Thai Buddhists in Thailand, outside the temples at least, dislike two faiths. One is the 'bad magic' families that seem in the main to have originated from Cambodia. It's believed that they can cast spells and some are possessed by evil spirits that can be sent to harm other people. Buddhist beliefs should show them that there is nothing to fear (evil can harm us only if we believe in it) but the old animism and Hinduism that preceded Buddhism here has got ravelled up with it.

The other group is Islam. The usual tolerance of Thai people is sorely tested by what goes on close to the Malaysian border where Islamic extremists take pleasure in killing Buddhist monks and police officers. Only about 10% of the population is Muslim but the women are obvious my their dress and quietly ignored in other parts of the country. There's no preaching against them, no public insults and no threat of a mob reaction. Everyone understands what others think and there's no need to say much about it.

 

[MoSo]

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When we started studying pagan paths, hoo boy. Don't want to be seen with books about that in Alabama. My friend actually got a talking to about it from a TEACHER! Completely inappropriate!

There's also just the general feeling sometimes of being the odd one out everywhere. When people start spouting religious stuff, say, at work, and I'm the only one who doesn't share those beliefs, it's easy to feel a bit...trampled.

When I was in grad school, I taught first-year geology lecture and lab. Just about every quarter we had someone come through the courses with the stated goal of "disproving" evolution. We even had an official policy on what level of disruption we'd tolerate in lecture and lab and an in-place policy on how to throw true troublemakers out of class. Questioning evolution is fine. Loudly disputing during lecture and lab is not. I taught a total of 7 quarters and I only had 2 students that had to be removed.

One of our visiting professors was from England and he was STUNNED at the pressure in general US life to state his religious beliefs and the level of hostility at university-level lecture. His point was that the nice thing about having what amounts to a state religion is that it's much more low-key.

 

[OccamsTazer]

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When we started studying pagan paths, hoo boy. Don't want to be seen with books about that in Alabama. My friend actually got a talking to about it from a TEACHER! Completely inappropriate!

There's also just the general feeling sometimes of being the odd one out everywhere. When people start spouting religious stuff, say, at work, and I'm the only one who doesn't share those beliefs, it's easy to feel a bit...trampled.

When I was in grad school, I taught first-year geology lecture and lab. Just about every quarter we had someone come through the courses with the stated goal of "disproving" evolution. We even had an official policy on what level of disruption we'd tolerate in lecture and lab and an in-place policy on how to throw true troublemakers out of class. Questioning evolution is fine. Loudly disputing during lecture and lab is not. I taught a total of 7 quarters and I only had 2 students that had to be removed.

One of our visiting professors was from England and he was STUNNED at the pressure in general US life to state his religious beliefs and the level of hostility at university-level lecture. His point was that the nice thing about having what amounts to a state religion is that it's much more low-key.

You're more patient than I. I get wrathful at the willful ignorance that goes on in science classes. I haven't encountered it since sophomore year, but I think the more persistent disruptors get weeded out around that point.
One of my favorite professors has a sign on her door that says, "Yep, evolution's just a theory. Like gravity."

I wuvs her.

 

[maryk117]

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Yes. A lot.

There's also just the general feeling sometimes of being the odd one out everywhere. When people start spouting religious stuff, say, at work, and I'm the only one who doesn't share those beliefs, it's easy to feel a bit...trampled.
I've also had clients try to proselytize. Ick.
Then there is trying to plan a wedding. Just kill me

I feel the most uncomfortable at work because the majority of people are avid "churchgoers". I generally have a policy of not talking politics or religion. My assistant manager was raving yesterday morning about how the devil must have been busy because someone left something somewhere that they shouldn't have. I said that I didn't think it was the devil as much as it was a lazy person and she started in again about the devil...I said we better end the conversation because she didn't want to get into a discussion on religion with me. She just looked at me, and shook her head.

Maybe people are just generally argumentative...my manager and I had a "debate" today about eggs. She was trying to tell everyone that only (and always) fertilized eggs have "blood spots" in them and that's how you can tell they are fertilized...

 

[fowltemptress]

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You're not the only one.

 

[deb1]

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When I was in grad school, I taught first-year geology lecture and lab. Just about every quarter we had someone come through the courses with the stated goal of "disproving" evolution. We even had an official policy on what level of disruption we'd tolerate in lecture and lab and an in-place policy on how to throw true troublemakers out of class. Questioning evolution is fine. Loudly disputing during lecture and lab is not. I taught a total of 7 quarters and I only had 2 students that had to be removed.

One of our visiting professors was from England and he was STUNNED at the pressure in general US life to state his religious beliefs and the level of hostility at university-level lecture. His point was that the nice thing about having what amounts to a state religion is that it's much more low-key.

You're more patient than I. I get wrathful at the willful ignorance that goes on in science classes. I haven't encountered it since sophomore year, but I think the more persistent disruptors get weeded out around that point.
One of my favorite professors has a sign on her door that says, "Yep, evolution's just a theory. Like gravity."

I wuvs her.

I have never understood the insistence on creationism. There are people who simply assume that all Christians must accept that the Genesis account in the Bible as literal fact. Although I am glad that this seems to be an American phenomenon, I can't help but wonder why it exists here and not overseas.

 

[deb1]

Cause I like to ask questions....What about being nonreligious are you greatful for?

I am greatful that I don't have to convert others. No longer do I care if anyone believes as I do. If someone else has their own sense of peace and happiness, I am happy for them. If a friend invited me to their religious service, I can attend and show respect for their faith without worrying that I might somehow be offending my religion.