You are standing on a street corner when a blind man walks into the street into oncoming traffic. You, of course, reach out and pull him back. If you don’t do this he will be dead forever.
Many Christains (not all) believe this of anyone who doesn’t embrace the True Faith. They have a responsiblity to save your eternal life. Not all are good at it, some reach for the blind man and miss, knocking him into the path of an oncoming truck, some bruise him getting him pulled back to the curb, and some don’t realize there is no on coming traffic and they are not dealing with a blind man. But they feel obligated to try.
Do you consider a few unkind words as persecution? Things are not so great now, but I think we have made some progress since 500 years ago.**
If it were just a few unkind words, I’d let it go at that.
But it isn’t. Remember about 1 1/2 to 2 years ago with Rep. Bob Barr of Georgia? He was screaming from his pulpit that the Armed Services was supporting and encouraging witchcraft & Satanism because there was a large contingent of Wiccans meeting regularly at Ft. Hood. He even tried to get various riders attached to funding bills about denying Wiccans access. Fortunately, the riders were voted down.
I think Wyvern’s use of the word spiritual is wrong, but he has the right idea. With the world becoming so inter-connected, people are communicating more frequently with others of different backgrounds, faiths and beliefs. Knowing something about those different beliefs would go a long way in helping us all get along.
How many people can name the 5 pillars of Islam? A Hindu Goddess OTHER than Kali? Who is Doreen Valiente and her importance in Wicca? The point I’m making here is that having something more than a passing knowledge of another person’s belief system will make things go a lot easier all around.