Originally posted by Lord UrizenMaybe you do understand religion. hmm
I've spent some time with my freinds and family, but in such a manner that I have not before considered...And in doing so, I learned that when I insult God, or insult a religion, or make sensationalist claims based on anger, personal bias, and lack of reason to beleive, that I only hurt the people I care about, and weaken my own power.
I recently spoke to my best freind. She is Polish Catholic, we went to High School together, we went to Prom together. She used to have a crush on me, and in senior year of High School she found out I liked guys...but she over looked it, and we still remained the best of freinds.
I would always debate her about the existance of God, and how I felt Christianity was flawed.
And it would always be the same thing: The two of us beleiving what we beleive, and not giving up our own biases. She says although she knows the Church has flaws, and although she doesn't truly know if the divinity of Christ is truth, much less the existance of God....she chooses to beleive, because this is all she really has.
She has family problems. She has freindship problems. She has much conflict in her life, and like myself, she is prone to intense Depression and she harbors a LOT of anger. She tires of the racist remarks against her (polish jokes) that rival girls make about her, and even more so she tires of Protestant students insulting her as a Catholic.
I just realized that I was no better than the Evangelicals that harass her for her Faith. It shocked me..because I was amazed how one Christian could discriminate so badly against another...against my best freind. Yet, even though I was her best freind....I too indirectly discriminate against her, because she IS a catholic.
Why should she put up with my anti Christian biases? She's NEVER had a problem with me being Gay (well only that one time, but she accepted it, and still cares about me). Shouldn't I pay her the SAME RESPECT ?
God is one of the few things that she feels gives her strength. She prays with all her mental power...she prays with all her emotion. God is one of her only hopes, and her Faith is one of the few things that keep her moving forward. That keep her from slipping into a state of misery and dispair.
I HAVE NO RIGHT TO TAKE THAT AWAY FROM HER !
My mother is ALSO Christian...one of weak Faith, but she strongly chooses to keep her beleif in God...if not Jesus, at least God....she prays, because she feels she has too....she is a young, hardworking beautiful woman (she is 36, she had me early, she raised me by herself, and struggled to support herself, me, and our grandmother)....but she is weakened by bad freinds, a rough marriage, having to support 4 children, mortgage, debt, physical illness, and constant stress.
Her beleif in God is one of the few things that keeps her focused and in power.
I will not take that away from her, and I will no longer challenge the foundation of her mental strength....
And as a Buddhist, I am supposed to tolerate ALL religions, not just my own. Well...that's what I have to do....I have to change...myself....I have to stop wishing for everyone else to change and see things MY way...and start becoming stronger.
No more will I dwell in anger or self pity, and spite a force that truly has done nothing to me....it has only done what I ALLOWED it to do...Christianity has only hurt me as much as I have allowed it to have....it served me well in my earlier years. My beleif in God helped prevent me from committing suicide at age 15....
I no longer need that though. I am strong enough to live in this world without beleiving that there is a superior loving force watching over me. I am comfortable without that beleif...
But other people ARE NOT.....most people [b]NEED GOD
...or at least the beleif in it. I don't....but others do.That's all I have to say....Take from it whatever you will, think whatever you want...i dont care....I have a lot to work on. I have to make myself stronger, and remove myself from all the anger, hate, and negativity I have allowed to consume me. [/B]
Everyone can believe what they want to believe. But at the same point, they do have to come to terms with where such beliefs will bring them to. If am strong in the belief that I am to become a fire fighter, then at some point - I'll have to come to terms with the fact that I'll have to go into a burning house or building.
So yeah, everyone is entitled to their opinion - but they also have to accept those things(good or bad) that come along with the opinions they've expressed.
Originally posted by Thundar
Everyone can believe what they want to believe. But at the same point, they do have to come to terms with where such beliefs will bring them to. If am strong in the belief that I am to become a fire fighter, then at some point - I'll have to come to terms with the fact that I'll have to go into a burning house or building.So yeah, everyone is entitled to their opinion - but they also have to accept those things(good or bad) that come along with the opinions they've expressed.
Is this revelation totally beyond you?
Originally posted by Lord UrizenYes, I understand Catholicism ****ed you up, but that's no excuse to not understand the religious person's mind.
I grew up Christian....my antagonizing of Christianity was due to:1) The global wide and historical corruption I felt Christianity possessed
2) The fact that the Bible seems to contain more myth than fact
3) My own anger
I remember when I first came through this though process. Honestly, it is hard to respect what others believe later even when you feel like you have this figured out because they rarely give you the same respect back.
I attempt to respect others and their beliefs at all times but I slip every now and then. It's tough but it's good you can notice about that yourself. Most never bother to do a self analysis.