Many liberals celebrated when Hamtramck, Michigan, elected a Muslim-majority council in 2015 but a vote to exclude LGBTQ+ flags from city property has soured relations
I can’t say I blame them for feeling betrayed but Islam like the majority of the Christianity leans to the conservative side socially when it comes to sexuality and gender identity. They shouldn’t be surprised when an all Muslim majority city council starts to act on their belief system and enact ordinances that run against the more socially liberal citizens.
If you weigh the good that organized religion provides compared to the bad it outputs then it's not even a question. Note that I say organized religion. Individual religion is not a problem but the second that you're actively trying to influence various people, or governments, around the world? Then you're just a cult with a franchise. Not to mention the fact that if you're using your religion as a guide as to how you should feel about people different than you? Well you're probably a bad person.
As a gay dude I've only seen people use religion as a justification for their hate of me. I've seen church people change their minds when they found out I was gay and in need of help.
Genuinely curious, how do you feel about the Episcopal Church, the Unitarian Church, and a couple more, actively providing LGBTQ services, advocating for inclusivity, and sometimes even lobbying for legislation for equal rights? When organized religion is on the right side of history and using the strength of a collective organization, still trying to influence people but in a good way, do you feel it’s acceptable?
When organized religion is on the right side of history and using the strength of a collective organization, still trying to influence people but in a good way, do you feel it’s acceptable?
No. This is very much just a religious version of a 'good guy with a gun' situation.
I would not go that far, but I can never fully understand why people buy into some of this stuff. Keep in mind though there are a huge spectrum of people. We hear more about groups acting badly and often not at all in line with the teachings they claim to follow.
In a broader context people are part of religious organizations for many reasons, and many of them good. It is just when religious people want "freedom" and then go about that by suppressing the freedom of others. At that point it becomes a problem. In that case it is not about freedom but power.
Yes. Tolerance is the one thing required in a diverse culture. Unfortunately conservative religion is not about tolerance. Ironic in Christianity because tolerance and compassion is one of the basic teachings as far a I know.
Yep, that's why "seperation of church and state" is so important. But it don't mean much if it's just on paper and not put into practice unfortunately.