wex@ittvax.UUCP (06/28/83)
I have been reading this group for just over a month now, and -- despite certain flaws -- it seems to be one of the better ones; one NO vote for subdivision. In any event... The purpose of this submission is to solicit replies on a new topic: I am interested in what happens when people are unavoidably confronted with a religion that is not their own. How did you/they react, and why? Obviously, this information is largely going to be anecdotal (I know of no organized studies of this sort), but mail 'em to me anyway. I will post either some sort of summary, or any replies that I find especially enlightening. IF YOU DO NOT WANT YOUR REPLIES POSTED, PLEASE INDICATE THIS IN THE MAIL MESSAGE! Lastly, I would like to encourage a public discussion of the "proper" attitude to be taken in such situations. Obviously, some sort of basic respect needs to be practised (at least, I hope that's obvious!), but how far should it extend? Obvious examples: people's various reactions to Scientology and a-certain-bible-quoting-net.religion'er. One example which I hold to be "proper": in the Hamburg airport, there are signs which say (essentially), "The German Supreme Court has decided that airport officials may not restrict the activities of fringe religious groups in these terminal buildings. If these persons should trouble you, however, please inform any airport official, and they will be removed." A security guard told me that since the signs went up, incidents of harrassment have dropped to virtually zero. Yours in intellectual inquiry, Alan Wexelblat ittvax!wex or decvax!ucbvax!ittvax!wex@BERKELY