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Cotwani wrote: ↑22 Apr 2019, 17:23 Even though everyone believes that his/her religion is the best, we should respect other people's religion and not force ours down their throats. Religious differences can be debated in a respectful manner if we hope for the other person to see our viewpoint. There is an Indian proverb that says there is no point giving a man a rose to smell after you've cut off his nose.

This Indian proverb said it all. Thanks for sharing! I found that honesty, love, compassion, kindness are the common elements of various religions/cultures. I think when the difference interfier in a disrespectful manner is because we forget we're unique and we understand the divine from our perspective and background. Most of the times, the essence is the same, just different form.

Randall was rude with a blind faith. He accepted everything from the book he was constantly reading but ignoring and discrediting William's on no grounds. Every time William asked him a question about his faith Randall only said "That's different!" which was unacceptable. If you believe in sth you have to back it up with evidence and reason, and not expect people to accept it the way you do.
That's actually one of the reasons Randall was an unlikable character to me.
William never insulted Randall's beliefs and that, among other things, made him my favorite character.

I think it stems from some people's innate sense of superiority. It makes it easy to dismiss the faith of others simply by virtue of the fact that it's something that's not wholly understood. Plus, people are selfish - taking the time to learn about or try to respect someone else's belief will take way too much out of them.

I was annoyed with Randall too, when he was dismissing William's beliefs but got very defensive when he was questioned about his. I think every person is has the right to choose what they believe in, and no one has the right to ridicule them for it no matter how weird it sounds to someone else.