Love One Another: Being Nonjudgmental and Accepting of Other Faiths

In this article I begin by examining Jesus' commandment against judging others, thus demonstrating the folly of condemning others due to an exception of one of the Commandments of God.

For it is our love for one another as Christians who help each other realize the value of being nonjudgmental and accepting of other faiths.


In Matthew 7:1-3, Matthew, one of the followers of Jesus, wrote:
"Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?"

These verses advise us to be nonjudgmental since we each see life from our own point of view, and rarely see it from another person's view point. Yet, through compassion and love for others, it is possible to see the whole picture by simply listening to their story about their lives.

In John 8:1-11 is the story of the adulteress. A woman is accused by scribes and Pharisees of adultery, but Jesus told them "he who is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone." After realizing their consciences were not clear, all of the men left, until just Jesus and the woman remained. He asked if any of her accusers remained to condemn her, which she replied "No man, Lord." In response, he said "Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more."

This quote tells us not to condemn others. With the verses in Matthew 7 and John 8, Jesus' commands are clear: judge no one, not even yourself and condemn no one of a sin.

By condemning that woman, the scribes and Pharisees will have committed the sin of murder despite their exception to God's commandment of it.

Only a person who is innocent of all sin may judge others, yet few of us are of such innocence. Yet, by repenting of a sin, we are ready to learn from the act of repentance to refrain from sinning again.

What Jesus commands is that a god-fearing man ought to refrain from judging others lest they condemn someone and commit a greater sin of false accusation (lying about another person's character or conduct).

In response to sin, Jesus commanded "that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that he love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." (John 13:34)

By loving one another, and remaining nonjudgmental, we as Christians refrain from condemning other people. In the process, the Christian becomes more accepting of others because of her love and respect for both herself and other people.

When it comes time to share your faith with others, it is wise to remember what Jesus said in Matthew 7:6:

"Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you."

In other words, share what is sacred only with people of like mind. For they alone will respect your faith and how you worship.

Be not foolish and preach to anyone who has shown that they refuse to respect your faith, lest they point out the differences between their faith and yours disrespectfully until the both of you commit littles sins in defending your respective faiths.

Instead only share the truth of your faith, be it doctrine or otherwise, using scripture with fellow members of your faith.

Thus, it is wise to agree with your fellow Christians of other faiths on the basic principles of the Christ-centered life: love one another - even your enemies - and judge no one (Matthew 5:43-48, Matthew 22:37-40).

You Whipper Snappers Need to Listen Good (satire)

I like getting old. People avoid me, because I might say something like "Back in the day, when I was in high school, nobody was gay."

WTF happened over the past 38 years? Oh, right. Population density promotes homosexuality? I don't think so. That means there should be more gay people in India and China. Maybe all the gay people in the world just don't want to be outed because of how short their lives might be.

I mean, if it had to do with population density, then when was the last time Tokyo had a Pride Festival???

Think about it.  Most people who know they are gay don't out themselves among the heteronormative folk like you and I because the anti-gay rhetoric in some straight circles implies that the life expectancy of an outed gay will be less than expected.

Gay people are smart enough to figure that out, especially when mean heteronormative people not only out them but post it on Youtube, which might cut short a promising life.

IMO such people who cause a gay person to consider suicide should be arrested for a hate crime and be held responsible for the gay person who is kills himself due to their anti-gay behavior. Manslaughter is a justifiable charge.

I am not saying this because I am gay but because sometimes it is the insensitive heteronormatives who are most harmful to the LGBTi community, especially the transgender and intersex people.

Perhaps one day in the future, the world may become more enlightened and more compassionate than they are today, even if this meant less organized religion promoting the anti-homosexual propaganda based on ignorance, fear and awe.

One day, Frank the Pope will issue an edict that will tell the Catholics to tone down the anti-gay rhetoric. Hopefully the Protestants will follow suit, instead of continuing to oppress someone just because they are in a same-sex relationship.

IMO it is a form of satanism to be down on gays. There is a special place in hell for them, and there they will have to be of service to the gays they oppressed, who shall be awaiting them in hell.

That is, if I believed in a Christian hell.

But I feel that if I properly prepare myself for the afterlife, then I shall be reborn in a Pure Land that exists outside of the six desire realms and all the Buddhist heavens and hells. Such a wonderful destiny!

Don't mind me. I'm too spiritually minded in my old age.

Selling Islam to the Infidels

Muslims may succeed to force non-Muslims (or even enlightened Muslims) in not offending their religion by threatening them with assassinations, bombs and bullets, but increasingly they have a harder time to sell Islam as a religion of peace and tolerance. In fact sincere respect is rarely gained through intimidation. -- Omid Paydar

This quote by Paydar is significant, especially to me. I once asked a Muslim fellow if we could become friends, and discuss Islam according to essence of jihad (religious education of unbeliever).

He consulted with his father, who forbade him to do so. My chance at befriending a Muslim was dashed..

I do not know of any religion, other than some Protestant sect of Christianity, that specifically forbids a believer from being with an unbeliever in such a fashion.

Apart from a strange email discussion with a Maltese Catholic who believed that meditation was the gateway to the Devil, most Christians I have talked to soon stopped talking to me when I expressed my personal philosophy on God with respect to Buddhism.

Indeed, intolerance might the root of the problem Muslims face in today's world. I have found on the whole that there are many different schools of thought in Islam, some of which espouse Paydar's description of intolerance.

On the whole, enlightened Muslims who have incorporated the virtue of loving-kindness are more tolerant of non-Muslims than the Muslims who threaten violence to force everyone else in not offending their religion.

However, mass media has been filtering out the tolerance of enlightened Muslims and focusing on the intolerance of radical Muslims to sell the product called "Muslim terrorists".

This kind of anti-Muslim propaganda contrasts with the message that the majority of Muslims are tolerant of the West.