The big religion comparison chart
A quicker primer on the major (and not so major) religions of the world.
Topic Agnostic Illustrated daily news, salacious gossip, opinion & discussion on religion & atheism.
Archive for February, 2008
Remember the separation of church and state?
Remember the principle of the separation of church and state? The Europeans who settled North America thought that this was important, especially in light of religious persecution they endured in England, where the head of the state was also the head of the church, and religious ideals were used to influence governmental decisions, policies and punishments.
Though it is talked about still as being a fundamental principle for Western style democracy, it is unfortunately still a condition not yet achieved.
For many years individuals and organizations have used the government to force their religious beliefs onto other people that may not share or welcome those beliefs. Issues of same-sex marriage, drug prohibition and other “vices” were often restricted in some way because of these beliefs.
And it continues to this day.
In the last few years California has had some resolutions to allow for same-sex marriage. Groups from all sides with different agendas made their voice heard through various means. One of these groups included churches.
LDS Church wades into California traditional marriage case
“The LDS Church has joined with several California religious groups to file a friend-of-the-court brief in defense of Proposition 22, a law passed in 1999 that defined marriage as between a man and a woman.”
In this case, the LDS church is using the government to force their religious belief; that marriage should be between a man and woman; onto other people not of their own faith. This goes against the principle of the separation of church and state.
I find it to be somewhat hypocritical of the LDS Church to do this, after all, they faced much religious persecution during their formative years for their practice of plural marriage, many times resulting in the lynching and murder of it’s members, including it’s founder Joseph Smith. They eventually traveled west to Utah so they could live in peace and have religious freedom, which differed from the religious beliefs and practices of the mainly Protestant populous with which they were surrounded.
That is fine; they can choose how they wanted to live. What if at that time though they had pushed for legislation that would force all married men to have at least 2 wives? Would that have been fair to people that weren’t of their faith, or had conflicting religious beliefs? Of course not. That is no different than pushing their current religious belief that marriage should be between a man and a woman to people that don’t share their same beliefs.
While a church and its members certainly are free to believe and act as they wish provided that they don’t harm other people, they should not use the strong arm of the government to push those beliefs onto others through legislation.
Marriage between one man and one woman IS a Christian belief, and should not be forced upon people that don’t adhere to that faith, or to any faith.
Over 1/2 of Britons claim no religion
A UN investigation into religious trends in England reveals that almost 2/3 of Her Majesty’s subjects no longer identify themselves with any religion. A report released today counters a 2001 Census finding that nearly 72% of the population was Christian.
The report also calls for the “disestablishment of the Church of England. The role and privileges of the established Church are challenged because they do not reflect the religious demography of the country and the rising proportion of other Christian denominations”.
Discrimination against Muslims may be thwarting efforts to combat terrorism in England, the report goes on to say. Sharia (Islamic law) has become a contentious issue lately, with remarks from the Archbishop of Canterbury suggesting some aspects of it may be introduced to the British legal system.
Lost Ark of the Covenant located. Zimbabwe has it.
In Time magazine’s website’s science section, no less, you’ll find the exciting news that University of London’s professor Tudor Parfitt has located the last vestiges of the Arc of Covenant (of “bible” and “Indiana Jones” fame). The famed relic has apparently made it’s way south through Africa to the Harare Museum of Human Science in Zimbabwe. Well, sort of. Carbon dating on the relic places it around 1350AD, but Dr. Parfitt has an explanation for that…
20 tacky religious products guaranteed to anger God
I mean, why shouldn’t dogs have their own Nativity scene?
It’s wrong to criticize church leaders, even if it’s true
Mormon Apostle Dalin H. Oaks had this to say in a recent documentary on PBS called “The Mormons”.
In adidtion, to put this quote into more context, are a few more related quotes from Dallin H. Oaks.
“My duty as a member of the Council of the Twelve is to protect what is most unique about the LDS church, namely the authority of priesthood, testimony regarding the restoration of the gospel, and the divine mission of the Savior. Everything may be sacrificed in order to maintain the integrity of those essential facts. Thus, if Mormon Enigma reveals information that is detrimental to the reputation of Joseph Smith, then it is necessary to try to limit its influence and that of its authors.”
- Apostle Dallin Oaks, footnote 28, Inside the Mind of Joseph Smith: Psychobiography and the Book of Mormon, Introduction p. xliii
“It is one thing to depreciate a person who exercises corporate power or even government power. It is quite another thing to criticize or depreciate a person for the performance of an office to which he or she has been called of God. It does not matter that the criticism is true. As Elder George F. Richards, President of the Council of the Twelve, said in a conference address in April 1947, ‘when we say anything bad about the leaders of the Church, whether true or false, we tend to impair their influence and their usefulness and are thus working against the Lord and his cause.’ … The Holy Ghost will not guide or confirm criticism of the Lord’s anointed, or of Church leaders, local or general. This reality should be part of the spiritual evaluation that LDS readers and viewers apply to those things written about our history and those who made it.”
- Dallin H. Oaks, “Reading Church History,” CES Doctrine and Covenants Symposium, Brigham Young University, 16 Aug. 1985, page 25. also see Dallin H. Oaks, “Elder Decries Criticism of LDS Leaders,” quoted in The Salt Lake Tribune, Sunday August 18, 1985, p. 2B
Why we do what we do
“For it is the natural tendency of the ignorant to believe what is not true. In order to overcome that tendency it is not sufficient to exhibit the true; it is also necessary to expose and denounce the false.”
- HL Menken.
Celebrity Scientologist
This is an interview with a Scientologist at the recent protest in LA. The interviewer is Mark Bunker of xenutv.com and the interviewee is Billy Sheehan, the bass player from Mr. Big and many other bands. His is considered to be one of the better bass players in the world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Sheehan
It is probably the fist time I’ve seen an interview with a Scientologist that wasn’t confrontational and honestly wanted to discuss his religion. It was honestly quite refreshing.
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