26 replies to this topic

[Auzzie Wingman]

Oh, you mean Jehovah's Witnesses. I get ya.

Spoiler

THEY ARE OFF THEIR ROCKET! HARRY POTTER IS NOT EVIL. STAR WARS IS NOT EVIL. MLP IS MOST CERTAINLY NOT EVIL.

And the whole "Only a limited number of people can ascend to heaven, and only those who convert others into JW's will ascend" thing... is bullocks.

Especially when the limit has been reached already... most probably.

"We used to send people to heaven, but heaven got full, so enjoy your life of pointing at everything and yelling "EBIL!"

Okay, all jokes aside, there will always be an opposition to something.

Still, I can see why NinjaShock is curious. In Australia, it's not like we all march ourselves to church on a Sunday, Christian or not. We don't uphold everything the religion speaks of. Heck, I work with this girl who's like super, super Christian, yet she works right through the middle of Sunday Mass. I think, with all the multimedia of America we receive in Australia, we see Americans as more devout than as, at least in Christianity.

Hmm, how else can I put it:
Australia: If you aren't devout, then it's all cool. Our national religion is beer anyway.
America: If you aren't devout, it's looked down upon. You can get away with it, but not so lightly. EXPECT SIGNS OF EXILE!

I really hope that's not true.

I don't know what I'm talking about anymore.

[AegisReflector]

While I am an agnostic (I don't believe in any God, but I do believe in some sort of afterlife concept), I think that freedom of religion should be practiced more, since I truly believe that Christianity pushes away any other form of religion from the United States and tries to make it into a superior stance onto the political platform. You barely see any Muslims, Hindus, etc. in any of the political parties (since Democrats are usually Baptists/Libertarians and Republicans are Christian Extremists and there's barely any third party influence) and I think if you want America to be truly diverse, you can do more to influence the public.

[Trash Waifu]

Well, the majority of America is Christian. Now I tend to not have a problem with Christians, but most of the ones I know try to shove it down your throat. Usually, they are conservative christians. And Conservative Christians, from personal experiences, are some of the most ignorant, hateful, and stupid people I know.

[Nomad]

Less and less. :/

[Joshua]

Australia: If you aren't devout, then it's all cool. Our national religion is beer anyway.

You forgot to add barbeques and regular routines of watching Neighbours and Home and Away.

[Auzzie Wingman]

Oh yeah, that too.

But mostly beer.

[Lady Rarity Pony]

I haven't noticed a change in fundamentalist Christians nation wide, though according to some statistics I was looking at, there has been an increase in general Christianity.

The media decides whom they wish to give a bad image of, and whom they wish to glorify.
Sadly the media chooses to give a bad image of Christians.

They're so quick to broadcast news about the Westboro Baptist Church and their hateful acts, yet the media wouldn't dare broadcast anything about the multiple Christian organizations that are actively fighting for gay rights and/or equal treatment of gays.

Your mainstream news channels are your local propaganda outlets. You'll only see what they want you to see.
Conspiracy theory? Should I even need to explain how this is not a theory. The media has been used all throughout history to manipulate the populace into believing groups of people are bad.

Would you like examples?

Spoiler

World War I: The United Kingdom broadcasted false stories about German atrocities in Belgium and then relayed the fictitious news to the United States. Why? To make Germany look bad in the public eye. These broadcasts helped increase anti-German movements in the United States which helped "encourage" the US to join the war.

1930s: Adolf Hitler had radio stations broadcast false and/or exaggerated stories about Jews and homosexuals. These broadcasts increased anti-Semitic and anti-homosexual movements throughout Germany. Eventually this led to the persecution of Jews and homosexuals (to name a few) in concentration camps.

WWII: Germany broadcasted false stories about a Polish assault on a radio station in order to give the population an anti-Polish sentiment.

Those are but a few examples.

My point, for whatever reasons, the media enjoys broadcasting news reports that give the population an anti-Christian sentiment.

Is it true there are many hateful Christian groups out there whom view everyone else as heretics? Yes, but they are but a minority nation wide. There are many Christian groups out there whom actively fight for rights for all human beings, but don't expect to hear about them on your local news channel.
Should I even need to mention how the media attempts to give anti-Islamic sentiments? That's obvious enough, I don't think I need to explain that.

Personally I don't mind what anyone is. As long as they aren't using their beliefs as a HQ to launch hateful assaults on other groups, then they are fine with me.