WHY DO PEOPLE TRY TO FORCE THEIR RELIGION ON OTHERS??

Just a personal theory: is pantheism just an exuse for people who don't actually believe in any gods to convince themselves that they do?

Eorl wrote:

Quote:

Just a personal theory: is pantheism just an exuse for people who don't actually believe in any gods to convince themselves that they do?

Of course not.
The Universe aka Nature created us to her liking and granted us a certain though very limited independence. It is utterly useless to deny her existence or her vast superiority over us. No need to convince anybody that the universe is infinitely superior to man. And the buck stops here. No need to believe that there is any god superior to the universe either.
It would be wise to worship Nature and all things created and act accordingly in order to preserve human life on this planet which reincarnates in our children and future civilization.
No need for excuses or superstitions or lies.
Just respect for the universe, living creatures and science.

I suspect you and I would be fundamentally in complete agreement while semantically poles apart.

The American Indians were wise beyond their time.

Anon, Steinbeck was an individualist and an adventurer; always admired the man. Did you know there's a Steinbeck museum in Salinas?

By IAN FISHER and ELISABETTA POVOLEDO
Published: May 31, 2005
ROME, May 30 - Pope Benedict XVI waded gingerly into Italian politics on Monday for his first time, endorsing a call by Italian bishops for a boycott of a contentious referendum on medically assisted fertility.

The referendum seeks to overturn key provisions in a law passed here last year that is the most restrictive on medically assisted fertility in Europe. The current law bans donations of sperm and eggs, defines life as beginning at conception, and allows fertility treatment only to married heterosexual couples.

The effort to roll back many of those provisions is shaping up as an important battleground for the Roman Catholic Church, energized by a new pope with strong views on social issues. The Radical Party gathered more than a million signatures to force the referendum. Since then, the fight has raged for weeks in pulpits and in the press, with posters in the streets, advertisements on television and pamphlets in churches.

In his comments on Monday, Benedict raised the temperature a decisive degree by backing the strategy of Italian bishops, who have encouraged Italians to shun the referendum on June 12-13 in the hope of keeping the turnout under 50 percent, which would in effect preserve the law.

Many in Italy, which is overwhelmingly Catholic, support the law and the church's engagement to protect it. But others worry that the church is making a disturbing intrusion into politics.

"You are committed to illuminate the choice of Catholics and of all citizens in the imminent referendum on assisted procreation," the pope told Italian bishops at a conference at the Vatican.

While Benedict did not address the referendum in detail, his willingness to step into the fray seemed to show that he would continue the activist stance of his predecessor, John Paul II, on issues important to the church.

As Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and in his six weeks as pope, he has spoken often about the church's strong advocacy of preserving human life, particularly the unborn, and about the need for the church to take a more muscular stance against secularism. Those issues are central to the referendum.

"The question is tied very much to what happened in Spain, which was seen as another moment of this challenge," said Sandro Magister, an expert on the Vatican who is generally supportive of Benedict.

He referred to a recent bill in Spain allowing gay marriage that Catholics have loudly protested. Earlier this month, Benedict wrote a letter to Spanish bishops saying, "The transmission of the faith and religious practices cannot remain confined to the purely private sphere."

Mr. Magister, who writes for the weekly L'Espresso, also noted the church's rallying in defense of Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged Florida woman who died in March after her husband won a long battle to detach her feeding tube. "The fact that these battles are fought over real-life cases shows the centrality of these themes, and on these themes the church hierarchy has decided to energetically commit itself to reawaken the church," he said.

In Italy, the church and activist Catholics sense a good chance to win the referendum fight, saying they feel invigorated in a way that was not the case when intensive church lobbying failed to prevent divorce and abortion from becoming legal here in the 1970's and 80's.

WHY DO PEOPLE TRY TO FORCE THEIR RELIGION ON OTHERS?

Because they are religious biggots.

real life
Bigot
a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices

Is that not a fitting description of someone who trys to force their religion on others. It may in the light of day disturb you. However, the truth is the truth.