this one came up at dinner...

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chez,

Next time someone says to you he is a Christian (and that only, which is the question), you tell me what you (can) infer.

RJT

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very little, but if he tells me what his relious beliefs are I would infer quite a lot.

chez

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I would guess its likely that he is closed minded and/or doesn't have the wherewithall to question his own belief systems, or he has not been in a situation where has been able to do that, he may then be interested in reasoned education and discussion.

It won't always be right , but its not an unfair generalisation.

Edit: I'm freerolling here (like a good fairground psychic) because I just realised those traits are true of most of the Western general public.

[RJT]

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chez,

Next time someone says to you he is a Christian (and that only, which is the question), you tell me what you (can) infer.

RJT

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very little, but if he tells me what his relious beliefs are I would infer quite a lot.

chez

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chez,

Ok then, my answer to the OP is: purple.

RJT

[bluesbassman]

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chez,

Next time someone says to you he is a Christian (and that only, which is the question), you tell me what you (can) infer.

RJT

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I can infer that the person is, at least to some significant degree, irrational.

[RJT]

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chez,

Next time someone says to you he is a Christian (and that only, which is the question), you tell me what you (can) infer.

RJT

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I can infer that the person is, at least to some significant degree, irrational.

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BBM,

(Whether what you infer is valid or not is moot to the OP.)


So, is hating someone solely due to the fact that his is irrational "just as bad as" being racist?

RJT

[bocablkr]

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is hating someone solely due to their religion "just as bad as" being racist?

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I hate republicans - am I a racist?

[bluesbassman]

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chez,

Next time someone says to you he is a Christian (and that only, which is the question), you tell me what you (can) infer.

RJT

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I can infer that the person is, at least to some significant degree, irrational.

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BBM,

(Whether what you infer is valid or not is moot to the OP.)


So, is hating someone solely due to the fact that his is irrational "just as bad as" being racist?

RJT

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To "hate" someone for being irrational is irrational. So is being racist. (Note I did not say I hate people for being irrational and/or Christian.) Negative moral judgment ("hate") should only be in response to those who act, by some definition, immorally, or for those who sanction immoral acts.

I do claim acting immorally requires at some level irrationality. However, the converse is not true: being irrational does not imply acting immorally, though it makes it possible or more likely.

[RJT]

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[ QUOTE ]
chez,

Next time someone says to you he is a Christian (and that only, which is the question), you tell me what you (can) infer.

RJT

[/ QUOTE ]

I can infer that the person is, at least to some significant degree, irrational.

[/ QUOTE ]

BBM,

(Whether what you infer is valid or not is moot to the OP.)


So, is hating someone solely due to the fact that his is irrational "just as bad as" being racist?

RJT

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To "hate" someone for being irrational is irrational. So is being racist. (Note I did not say I hate people for being irrational and/or Christian.) Negative moral judgment ("hate") should only be in response to those who act, by some definition, immorally, or for those who sanction immoral acts.

I do claim acting immorally requires at some level irrationality. However, the converse is not true: being irrational does not imply acting immorally, though it makes it possible or more likely.

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BBM,

I understood you and that you did not say you hate someone who is irrational.

RJT

[chezlaw]

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The point is that either both are acceptable or both aren't. I think the natural course of action is to make generalizations (which is pretty difficult to avoid) but be flexible in reassessing them based on your interactions with particular people.

Your style and phrasing were awfully provocative for somebody who is non-judgmental in this matter. I also think you're trying to weasel out a bit here; it's pretty clear that the point of this thread was snap judgments based on religious identification, rather than an assessment of people's character based on knowledge of their specific beliefs, which are quite different things.

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I'm not weasling out of anything, I'm quite capable of being provocative without being judgemental.

All I've done it explain what was meant by my original pithy response and whilst its true that snap judgements are weak in both cases, you can see the difference as the information gets better. The more I know about a particular persons religous beliefs the more I can infer about their character. The more I know about their mix of blood and racial ancestry ...???

chez

[DougShrapnel]

I think hate is a strong word. If you hate someone based on what religion they choose, It's probably "as bad as" hating someone because of thier race. But I think you can get away with hating someone that has a religion, where as you can't get away with hating on someone that has a race. If we are speaking as americans, it's being encouraged to hate muslims in popular culture. So if you are one that came to your conclusion from pressure, than it's just as bad. But if you have studied the religion, and found that certain beliefs are deserving of hate, then it's ok to hate someone soley based off of religion. There is a big difference between hating someone because of what they believe and hating someone becasue of what race they are. But the blind hatred of someone becuase of thier religion, which is what i think you are refering to, is "just as bad".

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is hating someone solely due to their religion "just as bad as" being racist?

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I'd say almost, but not quite. 1) it's not good to hate people, and 2) most people don't choose their religion.