# Bigotry versus genuine religious belief **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 24, 2020, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bigotry-versus-genuine-religious-belief/921434 "2020-09-24T18:43:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bigotry-versus-genuine-religious-belief/921434/309 "2023-07-06T00:23:55Z")
The religion I practice, totally coincidentally, is the correct one! ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bigotry-versus-genuine-religious-belief/921434/310 "2023-07-06T00:29:29Z")
There was once a U.S. Supreme Court case involving the use of peyote as part of a legitimate Native American religious ceremony. The practitioners argued that their freedom of religion should supersede any law outlawing the use of peyote. That ole’ hypocrite, Antonin Scalia, said that if people could use religious beliefs to justify their actions, then each person could “become a law unto themselves”, and that was untenable. > [@](#): > > To permit this would be to make the professed doctrines of religious belief superior to the law of the land, and in effect to permit every citizen to become a law unto himself. > **[Employment Division v. Smith](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employment_Division_v._Smith)** > > Employment Division, Department of Human Resources of Oregon v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872 (1990), is a United States Supreme Court case that held that the state could deny unemployment benefits to a person fired for violating a state prohibition on the use of peyote even though the use of the drug was part of a religious ritual. Although states have the power to accommodate otherwise illegal acts performed in pursuit of religious beliefs, they are not required to do so. > Alfred Leo Smith and Galen Bl... Religious beliefs, no matter how sincere, do not supersede one’s legal obligations. We’ve already decided this. It’s tragic that this Supreme Court is receding from precedent. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bigotry-versus-genuine-religious-belief/921434/311 "2023-07-06T00:30:40Z")
In the interest of harmony and peace, I would like to quote a little old lady caller to the Larry King radio program many years ago: “I don’t know why we have a problem with Jews, Hindus, Muslims and all the others-aren’t we all just worshiping Jesus in our own way?” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bigotry-versus-genuine-religious-belief/921434/312 "2023-07-06T00:50:31Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > > [@cmkeller](#): > > > > Not all religious believers pick and choose among Bible verses. > > If they live in modern society they do. Even [A. J. Jacobs](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/495395)? ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bigotry-versus-genuine-religious-belief/921434/313 "2023-07-06T01:35:45Z")
“I’ve done everything the Bible says - even the stuff that contradicts the other stuff!” ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bigotry-versus-genuine-religious-belief/921434/314 "2023-07-06T02:02:33Z")
I bet he left out a verse or several. Especially the ones about stoning. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bigotry-versus-genuine-religious-belief/921434/315 "2023-07-06T02:53:09Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > If they live in modern society they do. Or there would be a whole lot of stoning going on. No, because Biblical punishments can only (according to Biblical law) be administered by a proper court for such judgments, which does not exist in modern times. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > They pretty much _have_ to. Only based on a superficial reading. However, careful study using traditional methods (such as can be found in the Talmud and its derivative works) demonstrate what apparently-contradictory verses ultimately mean in action and how they work together. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bigotry-versus-genuine-religious-belief/921434/316 "2023-07-06T03:07:56Z")
Who said that “Whenever you want to hear atheists laugh, have a believer tell them that a holy book makes sense”? Some skeptic, I’m sue. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bigotry-versus-genuine-religious-belief/921434/317 "2023-07-06T03:13:18Z")
Hello Sue, how do you do? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bigotry-versus-genuine-religious-belief/921434/318 "2023-07-06T03:15:55Z")
And different sects, claiming to use pretty much the same methods(leaving aside the Talmud), say pretty much the same thing. Yet _somehow_ don’t get quite the same results. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bigotry-versus-genuine-religious-belief/921434/319 "2023-07-06T03:19:07Z")
Isn’t that a vaudeville routine? Gallagher and Shean, 1901? Weber and Fields, 1914? Crosby, Stills, and Nash, 1969? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bigotry-versus-genuine-religious-belief/921434/320 "2023-07-06T03:37:48Z")
Life ain’t easy for a boy named Sue. ---
**Author:** ![DeadTreasSecretaries](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deadtreassecretaries/32/4817_2.png) [@DeadTreasSecretaries](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadTreasSecretaries)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bigotry-versus-genuine-religious-belief/921434/321 "2023-07-06T04:54:26Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > Only based on a superficial reading. However, careful study using traditional methods (such as can be found in the Talmud and its derivative works) demonstrate what apparently-contradictory verses ultimately mean in action and how they work together. I mean the Rabbis in the Talmud itself disagree with each other on a whole lot of their interpretations. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bigotry-versus-genuine-religious-belief/921434/322 "2023-07-06T06:51:10Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > And different sects, claiming to use pretty much the same methods(leaving aside the Talmud), say pretty much the same thing. What we really need is sects education. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bigotry-versus-genuine-religious-belief/921434/323 "2023-07-06T07:24:37Z")
Nevermind ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bigotry-versus-genuine-religious-belief/921434/324 "2023-07-06T14:21:51Z")
Be that as it may, they find that they’ve resolved (in their own ways) the apparent contradictions to the point where they are observing all of the verses, not cherry-picking. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bigotry-versus-genuine-religious-belief/921434/325 "2023-07-06T14:23:25Z")
They may disagree with one another, but they find (each in their own ways) resolution to what appear to be contradictions between the verses. ---
**Author:** ![DeadTreasSecretaries](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deadtreassecretaries/32/4817_2.png) [@DeadTreasSecretaries](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadTreasSecretaries)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bigotry-versus-genuine-religious-belief/921434/326 "2023-07-06T15:36:43Z")
And that gets you back to the same problem. Anyone trying to apply the biblical commandments to their life/personal beliefs would then have to pick and choose which way to resolve each contradiction because there is no consensus right answer. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bigotry-versus-genuine-religious-belief/921434/327 "2023-07-06T19:14:18Z")
As long as one is consistent in which authority he or she follows (or the hierarchy of authorities, if one particular one has nothing to say on a subject), they are not picking and choosing. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bigotry-versus-genuine-religious-belief/921434/328 "2023-07-06T19:22:24Z")
Unless they picked the authority to follow that tells them what they want to hear. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bigotry-versus-genuine-religious-belief/921434.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bigotry-versus-genuine-religious-belief/921434.md?page=17)