Are religions racist ?

[justaguy]

I was sitting in the bath just now thinking about this rapture thing. Now, I'm not anti-religion. I just don't know ... there's never been a sign. And there's one thing that has always puzzled me.

Why would a god send those that don't believe, and/or follow the word of Jesus, to hell, when half the worlds population don't even get the chance to hear about Jesus or the bible or heaven and hell according to the bible, purely by accident of what country they were born in (For example, just one country China). That's just plain unfair !!! I thought god didn't believe in these sorts of racist ideologies.

Of course, this argument can be equally applied to other religions that believe there is a heaven and hell, and this unfair selectivity of who goes there, like islam.

 

[justaguy]

Furthermore .... isn't god supposed to be this embracing, loving identity ? Then why would he make things so ambiguous and plant all these different religions on earth and then say :
'nah,nah,nah,nah,nah .... you can only come into heaven if you happened to choose christianity (or islam or whatever the right religion is.) ... the rest of you can just damn well go to hell for eternity ... so there ... bad luck ... blame your government for not sending you all to sunday school for religious instruction ... it's their fault and I don't want a bar of your arguments about you not even knowing the existence of bibles ... you're going to hell ... and thats final !'

A chocolate biscuit to anyone who can answer this satisfactorily.

 

[hotb0d]

I don't know why you are questioning g(G)od when you should questioning the people who created g(G)od.

 

[justaguy]

And furtherfurthermore, why would he give some guys gay minds (ie being sexually turned on by the same sex), and then send them off to hell as if it's some sort of cruel practical joke he's played on them ???

 

[Roralot]

What most people haven't seemed to have discovered yet is that religious dogma is controlled by and ultimately created by men, so it includes all of the prejudices, bigotries, and biases that come with it. That includes racism, sexism and every other ism known to man.

 

[justaguy]

So, the favor and salvation now goes to the Christian and whoever believe in Jesus.

But that's unfair. There's someone in the jungles of the Amazon that has never heard of Jesus. Why would god disadvantage him for never knowing what the bible or Jesus is?

 

[nycguydowntown]

maybe you should get out of the hot bath and take a cold shower to have the other side of the story revealed...lol

 

[Stardreamer]

Its been a LONG time since I've been to church. As I recall, there was an implication that everyone would have a chance to hear and choose before the end. How that comes about was never made clear to me, I sort of had the idea that your soul would be recycled (reincarnated?) till you heard the word. But the church also denies that reincarnation exists so I never really understood it.

I think Catholic doctrine is you go to a waiting room call purgatory for a time where you will have a chance to be redeemed. But again I'm not sure.

 

[Telstra]

Are religions racist ?

No not racist. I don't understand the question.
Its like asking is communist or capitalist racist ?

Religions are ideas that man create to control society.

 

[justaguy]

Are religions racist ?

No not racist. I don't understand the question.
.

Ok Telstra ... is it true that some Christians believe that you will only go to heaven if you believe in Jesus?

If so, then this might be considered racist because the majority of people living in the Amazon jungle, for example, have never heard of Jesus. They therefore never have the chance of going to heaven because they have never had the opportunity to believe. This seems patently unfair to me. The same can be said of people in China, again a lot of whom have never heard of the bible or Jesus. So, therefore isn't god singling out people of Western cultures, who at least have the opportunity of becoming Christians, for special treatment?

It is my belief that a loving god would not single out people of certain races or cultures for favourable treatment, and where all the other unfortunate cultures to have not heard of Jesus are sent to hell for eternity. And the same logic applies to other religions as well. Every religion thinks they are the true and only one, and only they are going to heaven. I can't make sense of it ??

By the way, on my census form, I put down Christian under my religion for some reason I have yet to be totally convinced about. So I don't believe I'm anti-christian or anti-religion or anything.

 

[pat grimshaw]

…Are religions racist ?…

People have been arguing about religion ad nauseum for millenia with no sensible result.
And they've been arguing about the so-called 'racism' for 15 years.
I don't think you'll get any sensible discussion here unless you're more specific or give an instance of what you're thinking about.

 

[Telstra]

Ok ... is it true that some Christians believe that you will only go to heaven if you believe in Jesus?

If so, then this might be considered racist because the majority of people living in the Amazon jungle, for example, have never heard of Jesus. They therefore never have the chance of going to heaven because they have never had the opportunity to believe. The same can be said of people in China, again a lot of whom have never heard of the bible or Jesus. So, therefore isn't god singling out people of Western cultures, who at least have the opportunity of becoming Christians, for special treatment?

It is my belief that a loving god would not single out people of certain races or cultures for favourable treatment, and where all the other unfortunate cultures to have not heard of Jesus are sent to hell for eternity. And the same logic applies to other religions as well. Every religion thinks they are the true and only one, and only they are going to heaven.

Yes it is true but it is not racist.
Christianity and Islam want to control the world by spreading their ideas.
Again those two religions were created to spread the "good news" all over the world.

Its hard to respond because the question is wrong (like is sport racist?)
If you dig deeper into religion and try to understand what they mean ... you will becoming an atheist

 

[justaguy]

I don't think you'll get any sensible discussion here unless you're more specific or give an instance of what you're thinking about.

Ok. Let's say there's a religion called Bartism. Under this religion, only people who think that Bart Simpson is the Messiah, and who know every episode of the Simpsons by heart, will go to heaven. All other people on earth will go to hell.

BUT Mozambique doesn't even show the Simpsons. This Bartist religion is racist because this automatically means that everyone in Mozambique will be going to hell, even if they are good law abiding and caring citizens. How can they memorise every episode of the Simpsons and gain salvation if they don't even get to see it !!

 

[Dark Adept]

Religions are ideas that man create to control society.

 

[LilBit]

I believe in Jesus but not as a christian. I know it's a full contradiction here.

Furthermore. The Christian God is not racist, cuz whoever support him will be part of his family. Islam also has similar teaching.

However, The jews actually had more priority because they are the choosen people from God/ God favorite tribe but they choose not to believing in Jesus.
So, the favor and salvation now goes to the Christian and whoever believe in Jesus.

The whole "chosen people" thing is a bit more complicated than most people think.

When Jews refer to themselves as the "chosen people," that doesn't mean that we were chosen for salvation--that's actually a very Christian concept, and it has nothing to do with Jewish theology.

The Jews were chosen to receive the Torah, and to protect and preserve G-d's teachings. However, identifying as a Jew is not necessary; the important thing is to follow the law and to lead a just life.

In that respect, the Jewish G-d could be considered unfair in that some people may not have access to the Torah and therefore may not know what it means to lead a just life. However, Judaism is not nearly as exclusivist as many people would like to believe. Christians, Muslims, and even followers of non-Abrahamic religions can be just as worthy of salvation as Jews, provided that they lead an upright life as defined by the Torah.

Likewise, moderate Muslims believe that all "people of the Book" (that is, all followers of Abrahamic religions) are Muslims in fact if not in name. In order to be a Muslim, one need simply acknowledge the oneness of Allah and submit oneself to Allah's will.

 

[justaguy]

maybe you should get out of the hot bath and take a cold shower to have the other side of the story revealed...lol

Jubbers already know that I create all my best whacky Hot Topics while sitting in a hot bath.

 

[Telstra]

The whole "chosen people" thing is a bit more complicated than most people think.

When Jews refer to themselves as the "chosen people," that doesn't mean that we were chosen for salvation--that's actually a very Christian concept, and it has nothing to do with Jewish theology.

The Jews were chosen to receive the Torah, and to protect and preserve G-d's teachings. However, identifying as a Jew is not necessary; the important thing is to follow the law and to lead a just life.

In that respect, the Jewish G-d could be considered unfair in that some people may not have access to the Torah and therefore may not know what it means to lead a just life. However, Judaism is not nearly as exclusivist as many people would like to believe. Christians, Muslims, and even followers of non-Abrahamic religions can be just as worthy of salvation as Jews, provided that they lead an upright life as defined by the Torah.

Likewise, moderate Muslims believe that all "people of the Book" (that is, all followers of Abrahamic religions) are Muslims in fact if not in name. In order to be a Muslim, one need simply acknowledge the oneness of Allah and submit oneself to Allah's will.

oh i get it now. "the chosen people by god".
As if they are special and yes it is exclusive (racist) in terms of ideas.

 

[TheFireGod]

I didn't think so. Christianity, Islam, Buddhism (that I can get on the top of my head) had missionary activity to spread their views to distant lands.

The greatest geographical influence of these religions (Judaism too) was or still being felt in the three old world continents of Asia, Europe, and Africa before 1492. Except Buddhism, which only established in Asia and Europe.

 

[justaguy]

all sex should be for the purpose of procreation.
anal sex cannot lead to procreation.
thus, choosing to engage in homosexual sex is actively embracing sin.

/devil's advocate

I wish I knew the answer. I've got a feeling that god thinks anything that is not harming, or infringing on the the rights of, other living things is not sinful.
Stealing, murdering, rape = sin.
Sex between consenting adults of the same sex = not sin

Why would he freely give those non-harmful thoughts and tendencies to some people, and then punish them. It wasn't their fault, it was gods for creating them as they are.

 

[SteveyBoyLA]

In most religions, there are commonalities such as a singular being superior to mankind, or more than one being superior to mankind. In the case of a god, this god is often merciful, forgiving, righteous, etc. There are other similar universal 'instructions' to their flock, including keep promises, don't lie, don't steal, help people, take care of yourself, don't hurt people, attend a place of worship, or else (fill in the punishment).

Where religions fall short for me is when they invoke the 'all mankind' finger wagging, as though they have an exclusive pipeline to divine truth. It is when religions prescribe righteous truths from their god, you know, the 'only' or 'right god', onto the rest of mankind, is when they leave me cold. When religions take this pious posture, I can't take them seriously. It's not so much religious racism as it is religious arrogance i.e., my god is better than your god.