I'm sick and tired of feeling that I need to/ought to defend my faith from literalist fundies who insist (quite wrongly) that the Bible is to be interpreted factually and literally, and implemented the same way in every culture and time period. (So, what, it somehow isn't wrong for me to covet another woman's husband? *eyeroll*)
I'm tired of getting told that since I don't follow someone else's crackpot interpretational theory (I actually care about things like authorial intent) I'm essentially Jeffersoning the Bible.
It seriously annoys me when someone says they want to discuss something with me and makes NO effort WHATSOEVER to understand my point. It's even more annoying when they expect me to listen to them in return. Honestly! I get enough of that crap at school, where (to some degree) I'm paid to keep my temper and remember that I'm dealing with people who are less mature than I am - even though not all of those are my students. *grin*
I think my response from this point on will be: "You're wrong. Go read the Better Bibles Blog."
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THIS is precisely why I DON'T discuss religion. First of all, I don't follow a "religion" per se - I'm a very spiritual person and I believe in God, but I'm not interested in having other people tell me WHAT or HOW to believe. I also find that religion does more to separate people than it does to unite them and so, in effect, most religions are working AGAINST how I think God intends us to live.
Religion, like one's sex life, is personal and private. Or, at least, it SHOULD be...
Well, I have to admit, I sometimes practice my religion (Bible reading, praying) in public. *grin* Not so much with the sex! ;)
I don't know whether it's that I'm not used to being treated disrespectfully, or that I tend to forget about it if it's an unimportant matter.
I have to keep reminding myself that "common" courtesy often isn't.
You're absolutely right about the common courtesy, and that, I think, is where we get into the most trouble when we're thinking about the questions of religion.
For a society that's supposed to be built on tolerance and open-mindedness, we seem to be neither most of the time. This disturbs me.
There's a big difference between reading the Bible and praying in public - which can still be private things - and prosteletizing. While I understand the genuine desire to share with others the joy that one finds in one's own faith, I also understand that everyone's journey is different. I can only make choices for myself, and foisting my ideas on others doesn't really feel right to me. I'll share if you ask, but I'm not going to get up in someone else's face to share what I believe.
If you're minding your own business, you shouldn't be treated any differently than anyone else. Of course, going back to your original claim about common courtesy, there's no guarantee that everyone else isn't being treated badly, too.
Sigh
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