Religious liberty and hatred

[Eric the Green]

(06-29-2016, 06:54 AM)radind Wrote: Regarding threats to Christianity, my view is the the threat  to religious freedom comes from the majority Secular Humanists who operate as a de facto religion (while denying that they are a religion) and seem to me to have little tolerance for Christian values.

I don't disagree that secular humanism is a defacto religion. I agree with you on that, and it is in fact a choice on the well-done select-smart religious survey. I hope you accept and realize that this is my view.

I disagree that they pose a threat to religious freedom. That is absurd. It is the religious right that is the threat to religious freedom. It's that point of view of yours that I regard as potentially dangerous; not that I view YOU as a danger, but others who hold similar views do see a threat to their religion, and their response is to impose their religion on others in response. People who act out of fear of threat, are likely to be intolerant and authoritarian to meet the perceived threat.

Quote: My concern is not about small  minorities with different point of view. I am more concerned about the killing of unborn babies.

Lots of people are concerned about abortion. People have different views. All I can say is, may the best side win. Or may we find an acceptable compromise, and deal with the other serious issues that must be faced now in our 4T. Abortion may not be resolved any sooner than the debate over guns and the 2nd Amendment, and it is not an issue that defines our 4T, although it contributes to the division of the country.

Quote:I understand that you do not agree with my assessments or with Barna and I do attribute this largely to our different worldviews. (I still think that the polls showing ~10% in the US with a Biblical worldview are close to the actual situation).
I also understand that we are never going to agree . The effects will unfold one way or another in the future (next 20 years) and will be clear to those still alive and to historians.

I expect that the issues you are bringing up are NOT 4T issues at all and won't be resolved any time soon. Thus, they may be around for centuries, not 20 years. The issue does depend on worldviews, and those do not change in 4Ts.

I disagree that my rejection of barna is due to my worldview. I reject their definitions and their methodology. I have already made that clear. But, on this forum, people do not usually read or consider what other participants write. I think secular humanists, widely defined, are about 10-15% of the population, and evangelicals/fundies are 40% and Christians overall about 75%. No, we don't agree on that, but I contend that that is the fact. I do agree that "seculars" have more influence than their mere numbers.

Quote:This is an aside, but I am opposed to large (and very large) religious organizations and think that many of the problems associated with religion stem from the large organizations. Sometimes small & local is better.

I agree, but your religious views are still the same as, and are based on, those of the large, central traditional authorities.