Religious Bigotry Is Ubiquitous, It Seems

And is not restricted to the religious. I realize that, often, religious people think their own religion (or particular sect) is the "right" one and that all others are "false." It is inherent to the teachings of some religions. Not all, some do practice tolerance. It often seems to me that it is a more benign bigotry than a true tolerance but at least they try to be willing to accept others having different beliefs than their own.

Because I live in a world where religious differences have fueled human conflict in small and large (actual wars) ways, and because I have a curious nature, I am drawn to religious conflict. I try to be a "casual observer" of such things and not intrude. In fact, it bothers me when someone denounces some religious beliefs without considering they might offend when they do. Such a situation was brought to my attention by this article:

Unwilling to Allow His Wife a Divorce, He Marries Another

The title is misleading, it is not about the groom (directly), it is about the former wife of the groom. If I may sum up the story in the article:

A woman who is part of an Orthodox Jewish sect married a man (presumably of the same sect but it is not clear in the article that he is) some years ago. At some point, they separated and eventually got a divorce in California. However, under Orthodox Jewish belief, the husband must also grant what is called a "get" to his wife in order for her religion to see her as now single... essentially, she is still married to him under her religious beliefs.

This is similar to some Christian beliefs. For example, the Catholic Church does not recognize civil divorces and considers the couple still married "in the eyes of God." My sister struggled with this when, after four failed marriages, she decided she wanted to convert to Catholicism. 


And Faye's and my marriage is not legitimate, according to some of my wife's family members, because I am still "married" to my first wife (they do not recognize, on religious grounds, civil divorces).

My own mother, who was raised Catholic, left her religion to marry my father (Protestant) when the Church refused to recognize their pending marriage and threatened to excommunicate her if she married him. As far as the priest was concerned, I suppose,  she lived in sin for 61 years.

Religion is interesting, don't you agree?

Anyway, to get back to the article, I found the comments by readers to be interesting (I often do... because I am interested in how others think) in that many almost demanded she renounce her (archaic, to them) beliefs and remarry at some point regardless of the teachings of her sect. This is the religious bigotry the title speaks of.