Worth repeating: scarfdad's historical Jesus

[scarfman]

scarfdad spent a few years right out of high school in a Jesuit monastery. When I was growing up in Omaha, where Creighton University is, it seemed to me like he knew every second Jesuit in the world. But during the seventies, eighties and nineties he lost his faith in the Catholic Church as an organization, and went searching for the root of Christianity to try and find out what Jesus Christ really taught unfiltered by corporate corruption - a sort of believer's historical Jesus. Many years of research has led him to the conclusion that we've been getting it wrong all this time. Jesus taught not forgiveness but tolerance, between which there's a subtle but important distinction: Forgiveness requires that a judgment be passed and tolerance requires that it not be.

first posted August 11, 2007

Comments

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Yes, just so.

Note the difference between these two statements:

"I forgive you for being Muslim."

"I tolerate your being Muslim."

(or whatever you wish to fill in that blank).

[kiri-l.livejournal.com]

I don't see a need for either. They are Muslim - is forgiveness needed? and tolerance implies something wrong with the speaker (imo). (this is only my opinion as stated) I see nothing wrong with Islam myself. I know lots of lovely people who are of the Muslim faith and I accept that they are, it isn't a question of tolerance.

*confused*

*steps off mini-box*

That said I like scarf dads opinion.

[scarfman]

I'm pretty sure the idea is that tolerance means acceptance.

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

. . . and I accept that they are, it isn't a question of tolerance

Well, accepting people as they are is the first definition of "Tolerance," at least according to Dictionary.com:

1.a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from one's own; freedom from bigotry.

Now, the way people often use the word is to include the unspoken addition of "even though I disagree with you." But that unspoken addition is not a necessary part of the definition.

[eta: and I chose "Muslim" to fill in the blank, because of the way Islam has been depicted as specifically Anti-Christian, going back at least to the 14th C., CE, since the context was on Christianity and the Historical Jesus]

[1-big-grizz.livejournal.com]

scarfdad sounds like he was a very wise man.

[stoplookingup.livejournal.com]

Who knows what the historic Jesus taught? It might have been how to make a really tight dovetail joint, for all we know. But tolerance is a good thing, so why not?

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

So is a really tight dovetail joint.