I find this discussion quite interesting - it may well be something that might fit better in philosophy, but here is my 2 cents worth (remember that the Aussie dollar ain't worth much so 2 of my cents is worth even less
)
Firstly, I think there would be a lot of Christians that are intolerant about your hindu tendencies.
Quote:
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Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
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Also, my thinking is that the bible is a book written by MAN - it may have been done with divine guidance - it may not (this really is the biggie IMHO as far as christians vs non-christians are concerned). This is especially true with the old testament (I think it is a lot easy to justify the new testament as writing of men - much of it is just documenting history).
Given that it is a book written by men, then the validity of the content also rests heavily on whether you believe the divine guidance thing. Basically, if you don't have faith that it is a divinely inspired work, then it is no better than taking inspration from a Jackie Collins novel.
On the subject of Intolerance - I think everybody is intolerant of
something and of different things at different times. Some examples:
Did America show tolerance to Saddam?
Are Americans showing tolerance to George W.?
Was my wife tolerant of me working until 7pm last night
I think especially in the area of religion as intolerance huge - hands up who has got the shits when the mormons knock on your door early on a Saturday morning?; or mouthed off when the Hari Krishnas have marched by banging their drums.
Perhaps Christians are being intolerant when they try to convert us non-Christians, even though they think they are doing the right thing...
BTW - my wife is a regular church goer and I often join her (and her friends) at bible study - though I definitely am not a believer (and they are all aware of that). I don't necessarily see that as wrong - it is like discussing that Jackie Collins novel.