Tell me about your mother....
I cannot write anything nearly as eloquent as this piece, and I don't really have answers to your questions. I don't agree wholeheartedly with your views yet I can understand where this is all coming from. All I can do is offer my humble opinion.
It is not faith that infuriates most people. It is the pushing of faith, the forcing of "enlightenment" upon others. The burning desire that others have faith in the same exact thing, and that this faith has a powerful reflection in American society.
I grew up in a strange situation; my mother instilled Christian faith in me for as long as I can remember, while my father taught me to step back, to question and examine everything I was taught (in all aspects of life) and decide for myself what I thought was correct. In my early teenage years I decided that I did not have faith in Christianity, nor did I want to have faith in Christianity for various reasons. I withdrew from my Sunday School teachings and stopped going to church. I have always been a voracious reader and after about 3 years of studying I realized that Buddhism resonates the most powerfully with my inner faith, my inner guiding light.
This was not lost upon an aunt of mine, who started sending me monthly invitations to attend her Church's services. When we visited with her she (understandably) questioned my motives. Each explanation I gave her seemed to sadden her and I received endless lectures and lessons about things I'd read about in the Bible, in history texts, or heard in Sunday school myself. She didn't (rather, she didn't WANT to) understand that I had faith, I had a great amount of faith, it just wasn't in the Christian concepts of God and Heaven and Hell.
I can go on about the ways this aunt of mine disrespected my personal beliefs, but it is not necessary, you see my point.
It is one thing to offer to educate, it is one thing to keep blogs such as your own, remaining respectful and observant of the fact that most religions do indeed have the same basic ethical codes.
It is quite another to impose faith on others, which Christians have a long history of doing, not only in America but across the globe. In modern-day times this is tied into the merging of church with state. Already, the two are conjoined more than many non-believers are comfortable with, and considering the fact that Christianity is the most dominant religion here, it may be hard to control one day.
I am not sure how effectively I've conveyed my thoughts, and I hope I haven't been offensive at all.
The final point I'd like to bring up is something seemingly unrelated. While I prefer that my faith remains private, and while I'm glad to live and let live, I feel quite differently about another aspect of my lifestyle; for 2 years I have been a strict vegetarian, for the past 2 months I've been practicing strict veganism.
I am doing this for ethical reasons I'm sure most people are aware of, and I really wish the general public c
could rise to the same level of compassion as I have. It would be awesome to mail out invitations to Animal Rights meetings and believe that people wanted to be enlightened, wanted to change for the better. It would be lovely to explain my lifestyle as the one true good way to live and convert all the carnivores, but we are all human; blessed with a thinking mind that can and should make decisions for itself.
The best I can do is teach by example and be kind and patient to others with different beliefs. The first vegan I ever met was the most tranquil, kindhearted person I've ever known. Instead of questioning my lifestyle and proclaiming the joys of hers, she offered me the information I sought. She let me know that if I ever wanted to transition from vegetarianism into veganism, she had some really good recipes. That was it. No pushing, no judging.
I think if she'd been pushy and outwardly zealous, I would have been disillusioned with veganism. I would have felt frustrated and defensive, as humans tend to when their belief system is attacked. Instead, as I began to question the usage of animals for any human benefit, I found that I had a sort of mentor I could converse with, that wouldn't make me feel wrong or guilty for not having "converted" yet.
This is what many Christians don't seem to realize(or they ignore it). There is a very fine line between passion for your cause and disrespect to others who don't share your same passion.
It's not faith that's infuriating, it's the ideas many Christians vehemently toss out to others; that we are bad people for not living a good Christian life, that we are ignorant and unappreciative of what God has bestowed upon us.
To end this, I think it's very sad that a wonderful religion with many good-hearted and well-intentioned people has this reputation, but there are always a few "bad apples to spoil the whole bunch"(Sort of like PETA's obnoxious ways for us veggieheads) and I hope that reading this perhaps gave you a little insight to the other side's line of thought.
Thank you.
What a wonderful post this is today. It brings tears to my eyes as I feel the words alive in my heart...they are personal as these things come through truly developing a deeply spiritual life.
I enjoyed reading Sophia's comment here and understand her disappointments well. It seems to be a part of the spiritual growth... to get to a place of deep dissatisfaction about the "norm." I too became bored and tired of "religion and church" per se. I don't really worry about that so much any more but rather I am focused on my own heart, my own motives and my own deep desire to evolve into a spiritual, loving and kind human being. These days I want to be more honest with myself than ever before since in that process I realize lies great spiritual potential. Thank you Sophia, for sharing today!
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