And that's the difference

I have a right to worship who and how I want.

I do not have a right to insist others worship who and how I want.

I have a right to support or oppose proposed laws based on my morality, which is informed by my religion.

I do not have a right to insist others support or oppose those bills based on my morality, informed by my religion.

I have a right to choose to associate with, or refrain from associating with, people whose morals and life choices I approve or disapprove of.

I do not have a right to insist others associate with, or refrain from associating with, people whose morals and life choices I approve or disapprove of.

I have a right to religious freedom.

I do not have a right to dictate others' religious expression.

God has no religion

"God has no religion." -- Gandhi

Of all the things Gandhi said, this one may be the most interesting.

Gandhi was, by all accounts, rather universalist in his views. We share that, although his perspective and mine were shaped by different core religions. Another thing we seem to share is a belief that all religions are about love. In particular, I think they are (or should be) about love and respect for both God and all His creations.

Everything else is just window dressing. By which I no means intend to say that it's unimportant; the rules you adopt as a sign of devotion are definitely important. The commitment to those rules and rituals help you show that love and respect, and help you overcome your own flaws by doing so. It's a very human thing to adhere to a religion (or a non-religious moral and ethical code), to give oneself a guide to life.

But God isn't human, and he has no need for those things.

Which, again, isn't to say that He wouldn't consider them important for us to adopt. What I think it does mean is that (from His perspective) it matters very little which particular religion is used to acheive the goal of trying to live up to that ideal of respect.

And I think that is what Gandhi was getting at as well.

You're not HELPing....

[Note: I had not heard about the definitive canceling of the book-burning before writing this. I am glad it was canceled, but I think the sentiment in here is important anyhow (because someone else out there is surely contemplating something similar), so I'm leaving this up.]

Dear Pastor Book-burner,

I know that's not your name, and that you, strictly speaking, haven't burned books yet. (Or at least not the books you're getting known for wanting to burn. Who knows what you've done in your spare time before?) But that's what you're currently getting famous for. Whether or not you go through with it, right now what you're mainly known for is: "The guy who thinks burning a religion's holy book will accomplish anything meaningful."

I try to avoid political posts...

Dear Easily Offended People of America,

The words "Muslim" and "American" are not antonyms. There were American Muslims who died at the towers on 9/11. So calling building a mosque in the vicinity of the former towers "an insult to the memories of the 3000 Americans killed" is kinda, you know... stupid. There really isn't another word for it. Well, that's not true. There are lots of other words: short-sighted, hateful, bigoted, insulting, and ignorant come to mind.

"It is insensitive and uncaring for the Muslim community to build a mosque in the shadow of ground zero." No, what's insensitive and uncaring is refusing to admit that Muslims are not some monolithic hive-mind where everyone in the religion agrees with the actions of the extremists. Of course, if it were really true that all Muslims should be considered extremists and terrorists because of the actions of a few, than all Christians likewise should be considered extremists and terrorists as well, because it's not as if there has never been an act of terrorism committed by a Christian.

Christians have also stolen, murdered, abused, and otherwise harmed their fellow man. Does that mean that Christianity is to blame for those acts? Or do you accept that in every religion, there are people who are capable of heinous acts, and blame the individuals instead of the religion? Because those are your choices... and if you choose the latter choice, then you must include Muslims in that acceptance as well.

As usual, I am deeply disappointed that some of the worst comments on this issue come from people who claim to be Christian. Jesus would not call that love for your brother, and neither do I.

Universalism

I've written before about how I can reconcile being a Christian with believing that non-Christians aren't doomed to either eternal punishment or exile from Heaven, but I've felt a need lately to talk about it some more. Maybe it's because I keep seeing so many people—both Christians and non-Christians—talking about how exclusivity is a major hallmark of Christianity.

A couple of links

Via one of my old friends, the moderate voice of American Muslims regarding a recent attempt by non-Muslims to be stupid about how Muslims feel about visual depictions of Muhammad. (No, they didn't call it stupid. I am calling it stupid. Going out of your way to offend people of a specific religion is stupid... and it violates the "don't be a dick" rules of many religions.)

Via another friend, a liberal Christian shared blog, bearing witness (dreamwidth|livejournal). From their profile:

Jesus Christ lived and preached love and acceptance of all, but it increasingly seems like the most vocal Christians are preaching intolerance and hatred. So we, as Christians who believe in Christ's true message, think it's past time for us to exercise our right of rebuttal.

Note that our aim is not to evangelise to non-Christians about our religious beliefs, but rather to evangelise to other Christians about our political beliefs, and to strengthen ourselves in fellowship with others who take these beliefs as not merely compatible with, but actually required by, our faith.

Sounds good to me.

Modest dress and the law

I feel somewhat disturbed by the number of countries in Europe which have banned, in part or in whole, Muslim head coverings.