Why don't other religions speak out about social issues?

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It seems like Catholicism and other Christian denominations are the only major religions that speak out on difficult social issues such as abortion or gay marriage. Muslims, Jews and others certainly have more conservative views on those issues, but it seems we are the ones that are actively speaking out. Perhaps Im just not aware of their activism, but Catholics are certainly taking the brunt of cultural backlash on our more conservative social stances.

Thoughts?
 
I think it’s the simple fact that Christians, being in the majority in North America, have the numbers, which translates to a louder “voice” when it comes to speaking out about social issues. That is not to say that other religions don’t care about these things, it’s just if you aren’t paying attention, you won’t hear them.

In fact, there are many Pagans who are heavily involved in activism and discussing social issues (from both liberal and conservative perspectives). The thing is that no modern Neo-Pagan movement makes it a requirement for their followers, each person needs to make their own decision regarding their stance on difficult issues, although some traditions are more conservative or more liberal than others.

Starhawk is a good example of a Pagan who blends political action with her religious views. I find her to be a little too preachy at times, but that’s a whole other subject.
 
Because this is supposed to be a Christian country. If you go to a Muslim country you will find they are very vocal about social issues, likewise Jews are vocal in Israel.
 
Most fundamentally they don’t see man’s behavior as a means to salvation.In broad terms if we are saved by believing in Jesus works is of minor importance.Why concern oneself with life issues when they have so little to do with salvation.
 
valentino said:
Most fundamentally they don’t see man’s behavior as a means to salvation.In broad terms if we are saved by believing in Jesus works is of minor importance.Why concern oneself with life issues when they have so little to do with salvation.
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Westboro Baptist Pastor Fred Phelps would beg to disagree.

SORRY!!!: i didn`t mean to shock you!!! 😃
 
Fink said:
Westboro Baptist Pastor Fred Phelps would beg to disagree.

SORRY!!!: i didn`t mean to shock you!!! 😃
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So he speaks out quite a bit on social issues does he?There are quite a few others who do?Robertson and Hagey talk quite alot about social issues.
 
This is because Muslims and Jews don’t sell out their values in order to be politically correct.

The West is in a moral and sociological crisis, it’s as simple as that. Either there is a revival of Christianity, or the West collapses.

Lord Jesus, have mercy upon our people.
 
Amma, one of the Gurus of the Sanatana Dharma way of life is very active against poverty, her organization has built 200,000 concrete homes, hospitals and entire village infrastructures. she has also helped Japanese earthquake victims and victims in New Orleans all without trying to convert anyone. She is trying to bring the people together so they can cooperate for a better life. She also has a program to clean up the environment and plant new trees and educate the poorest people of India so they can lead good lives. i am very impressed with this woman, if she were catholic she would be considered a saint! Her website is Amma.org. A traditional catholic told me about her and i went for a look see and did some research-- i tried to find something bad about her but couldn’t-- she is squeeky clean. ( She is a Hindu)
 
MillTownCath said:
It seems like Catholicism and other Christian denominations are the only major religions that speak out on difficult social issues such as abortion or gay marriage. Muslims, Jews and others certainly have more conservative views on those issues, but it seems we are the ones that are actively speaking out. Perhaps Im just not aware of their activism, but Catholics are certainly taking the brunt of cultural backlash on our more conservative social stances.

Thoughts?
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Most of the Christian based/run homeless shelters and and soup kitchens that I have seen in this city … and in the US are not Catholic. I know of multiple Christian organizations ( not scams and not Catholic) that feed and clothe people in poor countries.TBN and 700 Club have extensive programs to help the poor and send teams on a regular basis to countries devastated by disaster… I belong to a church ( not Catholic ) that has sent millions of dollars and teams of people every 6 months or so for 30 years into areas of the world that needed to hear about Jesus and needed to be set free from bondage. Ours is not the only church in this city that does this. We rescue girls in Cambodia and Thailand that are trapped in slavery/ prostitution. We buy sewing machines for widows of the lowest caste in India so they can make a living because their culture will not allow them to be helped… and they and their children would starve otherwise.
 
1voice said:
Most of the Christian based/run homeless shelters and and soup kitchens that I have seen in this city … and in the US are not Catholic. I know of multiple Christian organizations ( not scams and not Catholic) that feed and clothe people in poor countries.TBN and 700 Club have extensive programs to help the poor and send teams on a regular basis to countries devastated by disaster… I belong to a church ( not Catholic ) that has sent millions of dollars and teams of people every 6 months or so for 30 years into areas of the world that needed to hear about Jesus and needed to be set free from bondage. Ours is not the only church in this city that does this. We rescue girls in Cambodia and Thailand that are trapped in slavery/ prostitution. We buy sewing machines for widows of the lowest caste in India so they can make a living because their culture will not allow them to be helped… and they and their children would starve otherwise.
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Thank you so much for bringing this up. What you’re saying is valuble.

Christians maybe talking about social issues, but their discussing the wrong ones. Christ never once said punch a homosexual or interject yourself into others’ private lives to the point of making a nuisance of yourself.

He *did *say love the Lord your God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. So while everyone else is trying to break up families, I’ll concentrate my outrage on the 6-hundred-thousand homeless in this country, the nearly 15-million American children who go to bed hungry, or the 46-million uninsured Americans without access to life-saving health care.

And, by the way, if Christians really want to do something to preserve the sanctity of marriage, they’ll save their righteous indignation for shows like the Bachelor who treat the sacrament like a game show and leave loving couples alone.
 
Conor7 said:
Thank you so much for bringing this up. What you’re saying is valuble.

Christians maybe talking about social issues, but their discussing the wrong ones. Christ never once said punch a homosexual or interject yourself into others’ private lives to the point of making a nuisance of yourself.

He *did *say love the Lord your God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. So while everyone else is trying to break up families, I’ll concentrate my outrage on the 6-hundred-thousand homeless in this country, the nearly 15-million American children who go to bed hungry, or the 46-million uninsured Americans without access to life-saving health care.

And, by the way, if Christians really want to do something to preserve the sanctity of marriage, they’ll save their righteous indignation for shows like the Bachelor who treat the sacrament like a game show and leave loving couples alone.
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My thoughts exactly.

I also recall a certain Archdiocese threatening to close down their social service programs because of same-sex marriage. Honestly, the very idea of it sickens me. When did rigid dogmatism get in the way of being a decent human being and, you know, helping the poor? It’s just disgraceful!
 
Conor7 said:
Thank you so much for bringing this up. What you’re saying is valuble.

Christians maybe talking about social issues, but their discussing the wrong ones. Christ never once said punch a homosexual or interject yourself into others’ private lives to the point of making a nuisance of yourself.

He *did *say love the Lord your God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. So while everyone else is trying to break up families, I’ll concentrate my outrage on the 6-hundred-thousand homeless in this country, the nearly 15-million American children who go to bed hungry, or the 46-million uninsured Americans without access to life-saving health care.

And, by the way, if Christians really want to do something to preserve the sanctity of marriage, they’ll save their righteous indignation for shows like the Bachelor who treat the sacrament like a game show and leave loving couples alone.
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This is the kind of stuff I wish filled the social justice sections more.
 
Conor7 said:
Thank you so much for bringing this up. What you’re saying is valuble.

Christians maybe talking about social issues, but their discussing the wrong ones. Christ never once said punch a homosexual or interject yourself into others’ private lives to the point of making a nuisance of yourself.

He *did *say love the Lord your God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. So while everyone else is trying to break up families, I’ll concentrate my outrage on the 6-hundred-thousand homeless in this country, the nearly 15-million American children who go to bed hungry, or the 46-million uninsured Americans without access to life-saving health care.

And, by the way, if Christians really want to do something to preserve the sanctity of marriage, they’ll save their righteous indignation for shows like the Bachelor who treat the sacrament like a game show and leave loving couples alone.
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Friend, you speak my mind.
 
MillTownCath said:
It seems like Catholicism and other Christian denominations are the only major religions that speak out on difficult social issues such as abortion or gay marriage.
Thoughts?
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American Catholics are obsessed with abortion and homosexuality. Maybe you should be asking why this is? Personally I dont think its a healthy life view to take.

These two issues didnt figure highly in the gospels, so this is why they are mentioned less or not at all in other churches. They have never been mentioned in the church I attend. I guess that this fixation is less of an issue for Catholics outside of the US.
 
Dave_B said:
American Catholics are obsessed with abortion and homosexuality. Maybe you should be asking why this is? Personally I dont think its a healthy life view to take.

These two issues didnt figure highly in the gospels, so this is why they are mentioned less or not at all in other churches. They have never been mentioned in the church I attend. I guess that this fixation is less of an issue for Catholics outside of the US.
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A good number of conservative Catholics seem to pick and choose their battles based on what the Republican party stands for.

They will always talk about how abortion is morally wrong as defined by the Catholic Church.

However, I often ask how they feel about the death penalty or Bush’s war doctrine, and they seem to be more accepting, despite the fact that both are an affront to the Catholic faith and teaching.
 
MillTownCath said:
It seems like Catholicism and other Christian denominations are the only major religions that speak out on difficult social issues such as abortion or gay marriage. Muslims, Jews and others certainly have more conservative views on those issues, but it seems we are the ones that are actively speaking out. Perhaps Im just not aware of their activism, but Catholics are certainly taking the brunt of cultural backlash on our more conservative social stances.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
The Meeting I belong to speaks out quite forcefully on equality and human sexuality…we just don’t agree with what the Catholics speak out on…but we do speak out and work dilegenly for equality of all people and the freedom to make our own choices concerning any range of topics…🙂
 
There are a lot of great posts on here. I’ve enjoyed this thread.

Your friend
Sufjon
 
I belong to a conservative evangelical church, and that broad grouping has been pretty outspoken about social issues, rather more than I’d like in fact, since I’m not a social conservative but a libertarian, and I disagree with most of what they have to say on the subject.

However, in my particular AG congregation, we never hear a word about politics from the pulpit, which suits me very well. I’ve left churches before because they talked about social issues too much from the right, or social justice and peacenik stuff too much from the left. I go to church to worship God, not to influence Caesar.

Which is not to say that I don’t take an interest in politics on my own: I have at times been a full-time activist, party officer, convention delegate, campaign staff and even a candidate. But I don’t know of any church, conservative or liberal, that would agree with the majority of my ideas.
 
I think other religions do speak out on social issues - which ones of course depend on the religion. We have a lot of Buddhists where I live and they are very politically active.
 
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