Religion, Secularism and Homosexuality

[Eric the Green]

(06-14-2016, 04:08 PM)radind Wrote:

(06-14-2016, 09:49 AM)Eric the Green Wrote:

(06-14-2016, 05:39 AM)radind Wrote:

(06-14-2016, 12:02 AM)Eric the Green Wrote:

(06-13-2016, 12:36 PM)radind Wrote: Beware of preparing to fight the last war. 

Armageddon? Are you saying that secularism's rise, and the defense of human rights against Christian claims that discrimination against gays should be allowed, will bring it on?

I don't know what you mean by 'Armageddon?'.
By the last war , I mean that you write  about concern for the Christian majority when there is no longer a Christian majority. There is a Christian minority with a secularist majority. 
My concern is that the secularist majority will not tolerate Christians values.
I am for religious liberty and respect for all.

I don't see any connection between secularism and a "last war." Vietnam was a war. Secularism does not provide for another war; only for the right of the people to be non-religious if they choose. War is up to the governments to decide and declare. Armageddon is the only "last war" I have ever heard of, and that's a Christian concept.

I will try to clarify. When the France was preparing for WWII , they tried to create a defense against the previous war with Germany( the last war). France lost focus on the next war. By focusing on the threat of Christians, who are no longer the real majority, my contention is that you are focused on a 'war' that has been already won by the secularists. It is time to move to the present and future issues. 

I don't get much into speculation about Armageddon

OK, I get your clarification.

It may be that the religious right is no longer a direct threat. But it has only been 12 years since they took over our government, thanks to Karl Rove. So although we have moved into a more secular-trending turning, the threat from Christian religious extremism, which gave the recent 3T its name ("culture wars"), could not have vanished in just 12 years. It is still very influential, and Donald Trump has to pay homage to it. And extreme right-wing Christians tend to favor his attacks on a rival religion. So this kind of prejudice is still quite popular. Right-wing Christians flock to him and vote for him because he promises to "make America great again" by clamping down on diversity.

The religious right is still a major part of the Republican coalition which has strangled our politics and government and hampered progress on real issues like climate change and economic stagnation/middle class decline. So, while my focus and the focus of the Left is on these issues, the religious right is still in the background as setting the cultural landscape that dominates politics, and divides our country into red and blue states.

I was going to mention this too: the religious conservatives have had their victories too. A young woman in a red state has to move to a blue state in order to have an abortion. I myself am not inclined to fight the abortion battle. But it does distract some people from more important issues.

You meanwhile seem to want to keep on with the culture war fights, despite your statement that it's time to move to the present and future issues. You are concerned about "threats to your religious liberty" and "tolerance of Christians." Yes, it's time to move on from that to real issues, not to those that exist only in your imagination; yes indeed