Beware Labelism

I don't know how much of my denomination is representative of the larger umbrella of Christianity (my hunch is it is to a large degree) but most of our social creeds and Sunday morning prayers of confession acknowledge the varying levels of bigotry that is part of all of us and our need to confess it and live in such a way that treats all people with dignity and respect.

Sorry You misunderstood. I did not say bigotry does not exist. I did imply that it was something the Majority simply aren't engaged in anymore as they have neither the time nor inclination or for that matter the need.

There will always be a few bigots around. They come in three varieties, idiots, fanatics (aka dangerous idiots) and people trying to get rich off the 1st two.

Cause you don't seem willing to expend the least bit of whatever allowance of imagination your version of 'religion' allots you to *understand* my words, never mind fear my 'thinking?'

Cause you claim the bigotry so many people experience firsthand *doesn't exist* so you can go on self-righteously defending it?

Then having the *gall* to claim it's 'our fault for pointing it out' when you *proclaim your bias for all to hear?

Please explain why you think I should be concerned with your color or your sex as opposed to your thinking?

"Welcome to the 1950s. You're late."

Am I. And here I was wondering about the overwhelming deja-vu. :)

My views on race and sex? Do you even know what they are?

Let me put it as succinctly as I can. Your color or your sex doesn't matter a whit to me. I do care about your ideas because that is where our differences if any arise. We have massive problems in this country race and sex are a part of it only to the extent you insist that they be so.

Thank you for a succinct and well stated editorial.

PaganPlace writes: "I mean, seriously, TJ, you keep using your mind for games like that, sooner or later someone's gonna decide a Republic based on reasoned argument was a bad idea after all, since most folks clearly can't be troubled to use said faculty, and next thing you know you got failed thespians throwing people to the lions and scaring the Hel out of a paralyzed populace with no mechanism to deal but hoping the army picks a good successor..."

Welcome to the 1950s. You're late.

Speaking of said legends and any historical parallels, I think I speak for many Pagans when I say we'll gladly forgo witnessing any poetic justice involved in certain people repeating mistakes of history they insist upon blaming on tree-huggers, cause, truth be told, rebuilding civilization is kind of a pain in the arse. :)

Let's talk, folks. Like we meant it.

I mean, seriously, TJ, you keep using your mind for games like that, sooner or later someone's gonna decide a Republic based on reasoned argument was a bad idea after all, since most folks clearly can't be troubled to use said faculty, and next thing you know you got failed thespians throwing people to the lions and scaring the Hel out of a paralyzed populace with no mechanism to deal but hoping the army picks a good successor...

Yaknow?

"Our panelist writes: "All 'isms' are shorthands which can obscure the issues they label."

Like 'Labelism'?"

More sophomoric disingenuousness, please, I'm not sure quite *all* of the departed scholar who intended language to *communicate things* are rolling in their graves quite hard enough. :)

us look at the problem in parts.

Part 1,

1. Sexism in the Catholic Church.

a) the refusal to allow women, single or married, to be priests using "fuzzy" references in scripture to make the case.

b) St. Paul the Prude as per Professor Bruce Chilton
An excerpt from his book, Rabbi Paul":

"He (Paul) feared the turn-on of women's voices as much as the sight of their hair and skin..... At one point he even suggests that the sight of female hair might distract any "pretty wingie talking fictional thingies" in church attendance (1 Cor. 11:10). Simply add Paul's thinking about women to the list of flaws in the foundations of Christianity and a major factor in the Church's treatment of women.

Professor Chilton btw is a Professor of Religion at Bard College and a priest at the Free Church of St. John in Barrytown, NY.

c. And it is very probable that the Islamic scribes in the plagiarizing from the NT used Paul's ideas about women and added them to the sexist koran.

2. Sexism in Islam

a) Its operating manual, the koran, reeks with the stench of sexism just ask Hirsi Ali.

b) A portion of the fourth major flaw of Islam-

" Having multiple wives also gives significant credence to the sins of rape, adultery, lust and polygamy. The condoned treatment of these wives gives credence that the koran allows the sins of hatred, anger and greed."

c) The sexism stench of Islam is also attested to by Professors John Crossan, Marcus Borg and Paula Fredriksen, all Jesus Semnarians and On Faith Panelists, and Karen Armstrong, Elaine Pagels and Susan Jacoby, all On Faith Panelists.

Eh, Anon@6:55 is me.

Our panelist writes: "All 'isms' are shorthands which can obscure the issues they label."

Like 'Labelism'?

Or, Gary, you could figure that if people are still saying 'ow' about what you do with your views of sex and race, that you aren't done focusing on it yet. :)

Similar in tone to what I had posted in Your thoughts. To be sure as long as we make race and sex the focal point there will be racism and sexism.