SONGSOPTOK: To
what extent do you practice ‘religious tolerance’? Since when (how long ago)?
STEPHEN
STONE: First, allow me to express my appreciation to Songsoptok for
this opportunity. My name is Stephen Stone. I am a forty-eight year old man,
currently living in the United States. Professionally, I am a manufacturing
mechanic and plumber, while privately, I am a published poet. I consider myself
a lifelong student of many things, Religion being at the top of that list, I
have studied most of the current text available. I should also state that I am
more a humanist and a realist believing religion is more a frame of mind and a
lifestyle and that, despite what one may believe, we are first and foremost,
one humanity.Inline image
I
believe I’ve always been tolerant, though as I have aged and my understanding
of the world and religions around me have developed, I have become more so.
SONGSOPTOK: Do
you believe all religions are the same?
STEPHEN
STONE: Yes in that, they all
require a measure of blind faith and a requisite lifestyle, conformity to ones
beliefs.
SONGSOPTOK: In case you practice
religion, do you consider all your religious beliefs to be true? What about
those of others?
STEPHEN
STONE: Religion, I believe
isn’t a practice, it’s something you live, as I mentioned before, a lifestyle.
I believe we are one humanity, with many interpretations of the same story. As
far as truth is concern, as I mentioned before, religion requires some measure
of blind faith.
SONGSOPTOK: Do you believe that all
faiths are equally beneficial and equally harmless to society?
STEPHEN
STONE: No, I don’t. To some degree, I believe the opposite to be true.
Look at the strife on this planet for hundreds of years, created by the
differences of beliefs from Rome and beyond to modernity.
SONGSOPTOK: Do you believe all
religious groups are equally beneficial and equally harmless to their
followers?
STEPHEN
STONE: Again, no I don’t. One
has but to look at the current state of affairs around the planet to see the
damage blind faith to the extreme can bring. Additionally, in the United
States, it seems a lot of fancy facilities of worship being built, while so
many followers go hungry. I often wonder what happened to pauper oaths.
SONGSOPTOK: Should members of any
given religious group refrain from criticizing religious practices of others?
STEPHEN
STONE: Yes, if we first believe
we are one humanity, who is one to criticize another for the way they live or
believe. Experience breeds belief and unless you share in the experience how you
can consider yourself fit to pass judgment?
SONGSOPTOK: Do you usually refrain
from talking about your beliefs to others? Should you be ignoring your own
religious ideas?
STEPHEN
STONE: Actually, I do. I find
to few open minded enough to have read much more than one religious text, while
I have read many. Finding in more cases
than not, more questions than answers. Take Catholsism, for example. The very
text they aspire to speaks of three Immaculate Conceptions, while they only
hold one up to worship as the center of their belief. Samson’s mother was baron
and also visited by an angel, hence said to be the source of his (Samson) great
strength, as well as Isaac, the first Prophet of the Jews, whose wife was
baron. His first son was bore to him by a slave girl and eventually cast out at
his wife’s behest, when she was visited by an angel and, subsequently also gave
birth. “Discretion is the better part of valor…” a wise man once said and even
though most text direct one to, “spread the word…,” it is in no way an affront
if the situation doesn’t warrant such conversation.
SONGSOPTOK: What
are the different ways religious tolerance, including secularism, can help (or
hurt) the demands of a complex world?
STEPHEN
STONE: I believe a “complex
world,” demands such tolerance. If there is no tolerance there is only
suspicion and suspicion breeds apprehension, which leads to frustration and,
eventually conflict. I have never believed that simply because two may disagree
that it has to mean one of them is only wrong.
SONGSOPTOK: Should ‘religious
tolerance’ be a part of the school curricula?
STEPHEN
STONE: Sure, in conjunction
with parental guidance. School is often where we receive our first interaction
of diversity, a pristine opportunity to also employ and teach tolerance.
SONGSOPTOK: Religious acceptance and
bigotry appear to be the two sides of a coin (unbiased). People are equally
likely to choose one over the other. Do you agree with that observation? Please
explain.
STEPHEN
STONE: I believe the
aforementioned, to be more a side effect of the indoctrination of any religious
belief system. To often the lessons that are left to the way side are those of
tolerance and acceptance. Religious acceptance and bigotry are another form of
prejudice, not unlike that we see based on skin color. Both stem from the same
experience of culture and history and are also the failure of same.
First, allow me to express my
appreciation to Songsoptok for this opportunity. My name is Stephen Stone. I am
a forty-eight year old man, currently living in the United States.
Professionally, I am a manufacturing mechanic and plumber, while privately, I
am a published poet. I consider myself a lifelong student of many things,
Religion being at the top of that list, I have studied most of the current text
available. I should also state that I am more a humanist and a realist
believing religion is more a frame of mind and a lifestyle and that, despite
what one may believe, we are first and foremost, one humanity.Inline image
We sincerely thank you for your time
and hope we shall have your continued support.
Subhodev Das
(Chief Advisor: Songsoptok)
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