Does humor belongs in religion ?

OB1Shinobi wrote: i feel that those who say islam is more violent by nature than christianity are 99.9% talking out of their arse

I don't think anyone here is making the broad generalization that Muslims are more violent than Christians. A simple glance at history can show you that devotees of ANY religion can and have been violent in the name of a religion. People are people, meaning we are all capable of acting like savages regardless of which holy book we choose to read.

The issue here pertains to the teachings, core tenets, and dogma of a religion and how they are interpreted by those who would use them to justify violence. I have not studied ANY religion well enough to make a judgement about which include teachings that are more likely to encourage violent acts in defense of the religion, but I do believe that it is a fair question and it should be asked.

I believe we would find that a religion that can incorporate humor and not take everything too seriously will be one less likely to encourage violent behavior from its followers. So, yes, in my opinion, humor should always have a place in religion.

As Sam Harris has said and made a lot of controversy for is the fact that the percentage of passages in the Koran that encourage violence towards others are way higher than in other religions even compared to the old testament because of this as you are studying the Korean each line of text text tends to influence your behavior one way or another like a thermostat being turned up or down. You don't always produce violent people ,but the chances are much higher of being motivated towards violence if you're reading a book that often encourages violence.

I'd also like to point out that while there are verses like the opening of the 109th surah that promotes freedom of religion or 2:256 that says that there is no compulsion in religion (right before going on to tell in the same verse how much you will burn for picking a wrong one), there is also a rather amusing thing I found about Verse 216 in the second surah. It basically says that the holy war (a litteral war, none of the 'spiritual pursuit' wishy-washy) is obligatory to you (i.e. the Muslim) whether you like it or not, because of course you wouldn't know what is good for you as well as Allah does. To me this betrays how the author probably guessed there would be moderates who would be hesitant about fighting their neighbors and so this verse provides a cheap apologetic to wage the war despite your objections to it because 'who are you to argue with God?'

Islam aside, we can look in our own backyard. Certainly, I am not aware of a slaughter led by Jedi, but we have hosted discussions of Jedi leading armies of men in mechanical suits. We have our own fair share of people that lean in a fanatic direction. I think it speaks well of the community that there does not appear to be a militia in Montana with a Jedi bent.

The point has been well made that most religions contain explicit violent instructions somewhere in their texts. Some more than others, it seems. Buddhism doesn't, but Buddhists in Myanmar are systematically oppressing and killing the Ruhinga, who are Muslims. I lived and trained there for a bit. I have tremendous love for the place, but no religion is immune.

We are quite young. What might we do within our own community to minimize the threat of fanatics in the future? Even three people can do an awful lot of harm.

Cabur, I concur. Sadly it's the *individuals who make the head lines on either spectrum. The militant radicals who believe that their way should be the only way or... those who sacrifice everything to spread the wisdom they have been shown by their path so everyone will know. I am a believer that a smile can melt and lift higher than most medicine and bring joy just as quickly with peace as its companion. It's the *individuals choice where to go with their study s and path. Find what works for YOU. Steer clear from the obvious hate. Hate not only lives in the dark side but calls from all sides of sects and organizations. Hope this helps

Cabur Senaar wrote: What might we do within our own community to minimize the threat of fanatics in the future?

I think we keep the Doctrine of our faith in line with peaceful behavior as it is now. While there are a few instances of text in the Doctrine that could potentially be interpreted as permission to use violent means to an end (Maxim 4 about Defense and Maxim 19 about Conflict), taken as a whole, our Doctrine is overwhelmingly about peace and harmony. As it stands, the Doctrine of TOTJO would be pretty difficult to use as justification for any type of violence.

That said, I'm sure Jesus Christ thought the same of his teachings before extremists twisted "Christianity" to justify wholly unchristian actions. It is the duty of each and every Jedi in this Temple to rely on patience, knowledge, wisdom, and reason to make sure that the same does not happen to our faith.

cool
i like 1% people

To answer "what might we do within our community...?"
Personally my take is a little different than the norm. Im less worried about how to prevent jedi from being "extreme" than i am worried about jedi being meticulous in their thinking, thourough in their research and sincere in their training.

There is a point in personal development where one realizes the inherent wrongness of murder not in a simplistic moral sense but in an immediate sense of personal responsibility
humility and awe of life lead one to the feeling of "i do not have the right to take this persons life..."

Its not necessary to cultivate this feeling in others as it is a result of a certain level of awareness that os reached through training and living

also in general i take the view that sometimes a person is faced with a situation where there reallyis no "moderate" answer. Or r
maybe better to say that even the most moderate answer one can fathom will still have "extreme" consequences

My mindset is that one of the goals of training is to prepare an individual to handle these moments with level headed clarity and decisiveness

The pope seems to think humor doesn't belong in religion...

“If my good friend Dr Gasparri says a curse word against my mother, he can expect a punch. It’s normal. It’s normal. You cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others.”

Am I the only one who thinks punching someone simply for insulting you is probably not the right way to deal with that situation.

We know most people come from mothers. Not all mothers are good people or even good mothers, but insulting a mother can reasonably be expected to be insulting an actual person, alive or passed away.

Punching, in any case, is not a mature way to deal with one's own insecurities.

Wow
a real pope would never say that