Something in one of lterhune's responses in the Easter Bunny thread got me thinking: why is questioning someone's religious beliefs "offensive"?

Almost everything else one says (be it in politics or other held opinions) can be questioned, and debated, without causing offense - but suggesting that, for example, the Bible is a collection of fairy stories actually causes personal offense to people.  Why is that?

This isn't intended as a debating point - I simply don't understand the rationale.  Surely if one has faith (or maybe that should be Faith, with a capital F), and truly believes that a book really is the word of some god or other, then some non-believer's viewpoint should be so much water off a duck's back?

I have found that people who become offended by questions of faith are usually(though they may not admit it) less educated in the actual tenets of the faith.  The offended pose is a way of not having to engage in rational discussion.  This is true for any subject.

Among theologians of all faiths there is always debate, with themselves, and other religions.  Those most grounded in their own faiths do not take offence at the questions, they welcome questions as a way of expanding their own knowledge. 

This is strange.....a girl in my American Lit class was saying yesterday how she got offended in her "Women's Studies" class b/c the teacher said "Now, just remember, everyone, these are simply stories" when they were discussing "Eve's fall from grace."  She even went so far as to write the teacher a note on the back of her final telling her how offensive she was and how she would have wished her a Merry Christmas, but that was the celebration of Jesus' birthday and since the Bible is 'just a story' she didn't figure the teacher celebrated it, unless she was a hypocrite. :o I just kept my mouth shut after a guy said "Well, to some people they are.  Wouldn't it be offensive to THEM if she said 'these are not stories, these are reality'?"  To which my teacher replied "Why the Hell was she teaching the Bible?  I wouldn't do that unless I was teaching the 'Bible as Literature' class."  To which the girl replied "I'm surprised they haven't been sued over that class because it's NOT just 'literature.'"  The teacher wisely changed the subject ;D


Oh, and this was the girl who was talking in graphic detail to someone on her cell phone about her boyfriend's penis ::)

Among theologians of all faiths there is always debate, with themselves, and other religions.  Those most grounded in their own faiths do not take offence at the questions, they welcome questions as a way of expanding their own knowledge. 
I agree.  In fact, it was a Catholic priest who got me to question the Catholic faith.  He would not only openly welcome questions, he would ask them at random so we could expand our knowledge as well.

This isn't intended as a debating point - I simply don't understand the rationale.  Surely if one has faith (or maybe that should be Faith, with a capital F), and truly believes that a book really is the word of some god or other, then some non-believer's viewpoint should be so much water off a duck's back?


No,because those who have faith want you to have it too!

I'm not joking here,from my experience (i was raised catholic btw),faith is not as individual as one may think,catholics consider everyone,including non-believers,a child of God,therefore is their duty to "spread the word" to those who still have not "found the light".

I had this argument with every religious friend of mine,how can you believe in The Bible? How can you believe in the Garden of Eden?They try their best to explain it to me,but i never got it .I guess what it comes down to is faith,you have it or you don't,if you do things are clearer it's not about proof,it's not see to believe,it all makes sense cause there's a higher being that you follow and that guides you through life,that makes you struggle to be better,to be good.
I don't condemn religion at all,in fact i have a lot of respect for most of them,cause they teach kindness and justice,sometimes they don't succeed,they have strange rules that don't make sense to me and atrocities are made in their name,but to me that doesn't make their preaching invalid.

Something in one of lterhune's responses in the Easter Bunny thread got me thinking: why is questioning someone's religious beliefs "offensive"?

Almost everything else one says (be it in politics or other held opinions) can be questioned, and debated, without causing offense - but suggesting that, for example, the Bible is a collection of fairy stories actually causes personal offense to people.  Why is that?

This isn't intended as a debating point - I simply don't understand the rationale.  Surely if one has faith (or maybe that should be Faith, with a capital F), and truly believes that a book really is the word of some god or other, then some non-believer's viewpoint should be so much water off a duck's back?



That is a very good question, Philbo and one not easily answered. I think it could be because people are taught something for all their lives and then when someone questions those teachings, not only is that person questioning their faith, but also questioning their teachers (i.e. priests/ministers, parents, etc. etc.) "Are you saying that my parents who taught me this are liars? How dare you!" Maybe if people taught others that there are other viewpoints and some will question the beliefs, then maybe people wouldn't be so offended instead of insisting that theirs is only valid viewpoint.




Cat

People who get offended when you question their religion tend to be closed-minded and insecure.  They tend to have fewer intellectual resources with which to weigh questions of faith.  It's black-and-white thinking.  "Either I'm right and you're wrong, or you're wrong and I'm right, because we are talking about the absolute truth here!"  That leaves no room for just a difference of opinion.  The number of human lives lost to violence resulting from this mentality is incalculable.

You notice this with "fundamentalism" in both Islam and Christianity.  Often religious fanaticism is bound up with political and ethnic tensions.  This is especially true of Islam. 

I remember asking Father Jack, the campus chaplain, how he felt about working with Moslem and Jewish groups.  He said, "Life has to be lived, we have to get along with one another; haven't we seen the results of not getting along?  Is that preferable?"

There is a sad phenomenon in America's politicized Christianity that reminds me of a high school clique.  Replace "cool" with "righteous."  The Republican--Evangelical complex has been marketed as an in-crowd of righteousness.  Remember how hurt people got in high school when the in-crowd denied them access?  Same with the "punk" clique in my high school.  As usual the rule was: "No poseurs!"  What was a poseur?  Somebody who had the Mohawk but wasn't "for real."  Deep down every "punk" was afraid he or she was a "poseur."  I see something similar going on with American Christian fundamentalists.  It's more of a clique or a club than a religion.  That is, fundamentalism is a political movement, not a spiritual one.  Perhaps a better analogy would be questioning whether a Cuban communist was "loyal to the revolution."  You know, if you are not "in," you are "out," and that's somewhere you don't want to be!
::)

It's very simple actually...when you hold something dear to you, regardless of what it is (faith in a religion/God, family members, spouses, culture, etc), and someone else makes a derogatory statement about it...isn't it only natural to get somewhat offended?  I mean, if someone would start talking negative comments about someone's culture/race/family/etc....than it would only be natural to want to defend what you hold dear to you. It's not about being narrow-minded or insecure, not in the least bit, IMO.  I consider myself to be someone who respects others enough to not degrade them or look down upon them just because they believe in something that I don't....but in return, I only expect the same respect from others (regarding my beliefs to the things that I hold dear to myself)....in that they don't say things that are totally offensive, etc. I can honestly say that I have never said anything negative here about any other religion or belief. I may not agree with it and that's fine...but it's not my place, or anyone else's to cut a person or their beliefs down.

Ok...I'm done now. ;)

It's very simple actually...when you hold something dear to you, regardless of what it is (faith in a religion/God, family members, spouses, culture, etc), and someone else makes a derogatory statement about it...isn't it only natural to get somewhat offended?

Thing is, I didn't say anything about making derogatory statments, merely questioning: being insulting (about ones family, religion, etc.) is one thing, querying the validity of a particular belief is something else.  In fact *not* applying to your beliefs any kind of critical thinking seems to me to be far more worrying (or even "offensive", if you like) to me.  Cat may well have something when she ties this into where you get your beliefs from:


I think it could be because people are taught something for all their lives and then when someone questions those teachings, not only is that person questioning their faith, but also questioning their teachers (i.e. priests/ministers, parents, etc. etc.) "Are you saying that my parents who taught me this are liars? How dare you!"
In other words, to question belief when that belief comes from parents or other figures of respect is to call those people "liars"...

This fits pretty well with my second sentence: my parents are agnostic ex-Jewish (that's ex- at least as far as the religion goes) and kind of Christian (but tending towards atheist now) - the only thing they really instilled in me was the need to think rather than simply believe, so what I find most objectionable is people who refuse to think.


People who get offended when you question their religion tend to be closed-minded and insecure.

I have to admit that when I posed this question, I was thinking along the lines of "insecurity" as being a major factor - it seemed to be an obvious reason, that people react as though "threatened", when if they are secure in their faith there is no actual threat.  But I'm not so sure, now.