A Religious "Discussion"
A few days ago, I would have been all over this. But more and more I've been coming to realize and have finally realized that this could and would not come to any good fruition. Long has it been since I've had a religious discussion with any of my religious friends that it has not ended up a hostile attempt to belittle the views of one another.
It is pointless.
Richard, as usual in most cases, is right. No one can change your beliefs but you. In the light of this one thought several others are rendered doubtful. What's the point of being open-minded in the case of religion? What does it mean to be open-minded in the case of religion? How can you except some of the views or beliefs of others without excepting all of them? Between those of a believer in God and those of an theist you cannot. I cannot except the idea that there is a Heaven but not a God. I cannot except Jesus Christ as my savior and not believe in his father. I cannot believe that Mary conceived of and gave birth to a son as a virgin and not believe in miracles. The opposites are all true for Christians, I'm certain.
So, to say that one is open minded about religion is to say that one is able to easily throw out all that he or she believes in and except an entirely new belief structure. I believe it is unlikely that such a person exists. If they do, then it would negate the idea of beliefs as a strong hook on which you hang your morals because if a person is easily shaken of them then there is no point in having them. They would be doomed to walk this Earth not having any bases for their moral and ethical decisions. What would they do if they were to come upon man holding a child sick with AIDS in one hand and a gun in the other. What would they say if that man asked them what to do? I'm sure that all of you wouldn't have to think for long before coming to a decision and neither would I. I'm also sure that our answers would not all be the same. And I'm fairly certain that the person with no strong belief structure and with nothing to base such an important question on would tell the man to do what he wants.
Back to the point at hand. So, if we were to gather and have a great palaver about religion, I don't think "discussion" would be a fitting description for long. Since I'm fairly sure that we all understand what each other believes, it would turn into a tag-team ring style wrestling match not dissimilar to Wrestlemania. Nothing would come of it except for all of us to be angry at each other, because the Christians among us would probably even find that they don't entirely agree with each other. In such situations, as I am apt to do, because it has happened before I would side with one of them and help defend their beliefs against the other. In any given situation, bad things would happen. Here is how I see it going down:
The Religious discussion
As you can see, It would cause a great schism and we would be fucked, including, for reasons I'm not yet sure of, poor little LJ.
So, I would like to courteously abstain from but would be willing to be witness to a religious discussion.
It is pointless.
Richard, as usual in most cases, is right. No one can change your beliefs but you. In the light of this one thought several others are rendered doubtful. What's the point of being open-minded in the case of religion? What does it mean to be open-minded in the case of religion? How can you except some of the views or beliefs of others without excepting all of them? Between those of a believer in God and those of an theist you cannot. I cannot except the idea that there is a Heaven but not a God. I cannot except Jesus Christ as my savior and not believe in his father. I cannot believe that Mary conceived of and gave birth to a son as a virgin and not believe in miracles. The opposites are all true for Christians, I'm certain.
So, to say that one is open minded about religion is to say that one is able to easily throw out all that he or she believes in and except an entirely new belief structure. I believe it is unlikely that such a person exists. If they do, then it would negate the idea of beliefs as a strong hook on which you hang your morals because if a person is easily shaken of them then there is no point in having them. They would be doomed to walk this Earth not having any bases for their moral and ethical decisions. What would they do if they were to come upon man holding a child sick with AIDS in one hand and a gun in the other. What would they say if that man asked them what to do? I'm sure that all of you wouldn't have to think for long before coming to a decision and neither would I. I'm also sure that our answers would not all be the same. And I'm fairly certain that the person with no strong belief structure and with nothing to base such an important question on would tell the man to do what he wants.
Back to the point at hand. So, if we were to gather and have a great palaver about religion, I don't think "discussion" would be a fitting description for long. Since I'm fairly sure that we all understand what each other believes, it would turn into a tag-team ring style wrestling match not dissimilar to Wrestlemania. Nothing would come of it except for all of us to be angry at each other, because the Christians among us would probably even find that they don't entirely agree with each other. In such situations, as I am apt to do, because it has happened before I would side with one of them and help defend their beliefs against the other. In any given situation, bad things would happen. Here is how I see it going down:
The Religious discussion
As you can see, It would cause a great schism and we would be fucked, including, for reasons I'm not yet sure of, poor little LJ.
So, I would like to courteously abstain from but would be willing to be witness to a religious discussion.
posted by Unknown | 8:35 PM
1 Comments:
I'm on your side of the spikey wall, Sean Bob! Don't forget me!
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