belief is a beautiful armor, but makes for the heaviest sword.

[enamoured]

In broadcast writing, we were discussing ethics, view points, and why balanced reporting is important. Somehow, we ended up diverting into a discussion about religion and people distributing tracts and those tiny Bibles with only the New Testament, and then this one guy said, "...and besides, anyone who believes in organized religion is stupid anyway."

I turned to him and, very calmly, said, "That argument is insulting, biased, and wrong."

I don't talk about religion much here. If you don't know, I am Christian. Denomination doesn't matter. I believe in God, I go to church, the whole nine. When I was a kid, for one week most summers, my brother and I went to Bible school at our church. I went to Catholic school for a few years and I mention that on occasion (and sometimes joke about it).

I don't talk about religion because it is such a loaded subject. It is especially loaded lately. There is a belief among lots of people, especially here, especially on the internet, that if you believe in a higher power, you are either out of touch, an extremist, fundamentalist, or you're stark raving mad.

I resent this idea--the idea that if you believe in a higher power, that you're delusional and incapable of higher thought; that you're stupid. I can understand how some people can arrive to that conclusion. But at the same time, there are stupid people who don't claim a faith. Just because you do not have a religious belief system, you are no more or no less intelligent than someone who does.

I do not want to be disregarded simply because of the fact that I am religious, and I really wish that more people would actually think before making the sweeping generalization that every person who has a personal belief system that is different than theirs is wrong.

(I wish that I could be more eloquent about this. That's also another reason why I don't talk about faith--because while what I want to say sounds good in my head, when I try and write/type it out, it never looks half as good.)

Comments

[nanet.livejournal.com]

I wish my introduction to Christianity had been through people like you, instead of the people I got it from. All the public schools around here are terrible, so I was put into a fundie evangelical school and it has so soured me on organized religion in general that I have to remind myself that no, not everyone who believes in God wants gay people to be lined up in a row and shot. There are always the crazies who ruin it for everyone else!

[minimery.livejournal.com]

Religion is such a touchy subject, always fueled by people's own experiences, good and bad. I too am and Christian and believe in sharing the message with others, but I strive to do that in a non-pushy, positive way with people. It's hard sometimes, not to get into debates with people about things that don't matter in the end.

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

I'm more on his side of the question than yours, but that was a very unhelpful and unilluminating comment. Stupid, in fact. That said, I get really really angry at people and organizations who try to push their religion on me, and I won't deny that in the heat of the moment, I've said similar things.

[earthguardian.livejournal.com]

i think when people say organized religion, they speak pre-dominantly about christian faith. i think that a lot of people base their entire perception of organized religion on the catholic church or some random, bigot christian and think that whole thing is a sham and should be torn down.

while there ARE annoying christians out there, some of them actually don't go out of their way to damn you to hell and for some people, it's more about spirituality than faith (which is what religion should be FOR anyway). but people are so quick to demon-ize a group of individuals over a few (or a lot) of morons, that it sucks for people who get something out of their Christian faith.

[moirariordan.livejournal.com]

I think you articulated yourself well in this post. And what that guy said was gross generalization and just disgusting, so good for you.

Sorry you had such a bad experience. But for every stupid, ignorant person, there's an intelligent, well-informed one, too. :)

[library-of-sex.livejournal.com]

No need for more eloquence as you said exactly what you felt in a succinct manner. I'm not the most religious person around, but I, too believe in a Higher Power, and I don't think it's at all fair to write off anyone of a like mind. I joke a lot about Catholicism because I see so much hypocrisy in the Church's values and the way the Church is actually run, but I don't think someone's an idiot simply because he/she is Catholic. Every religion's got its weak points, and there's no need to slag off an entire denomination of believers.

[starlakitty.livejournal.com]

i don't mention my beliefs here on the internet for that exact same reason. and also, because i'm not a member of a church (i was confirmed catholic, but i don't feel close to catholicism). i also believe that i can never be as eloquent as i'd want to be, if i *did* discuss it. so i keep it to myself.

i thought this was very well written, if you want to know the truth. better than the random babble that would have spewed forth if *i* wrote it. ;)

[komalow.livejournal.com]

I'm not religious (in that I don't know what I believe, at all), but those statements bother me a lot. Those comments are very ignorant, and loaded with the idea that not believing in God makes you rational and intellectual.

I'm taking a philosophy of religion course this semester. It's weird: I think the majority of my class is non-religious or atheistic, and I think we all expected to come out of the class feeling like we had thoroughly intellectualized religious feeling and understood it, but if anything, I feel like it raised my opinion of religious feeling in general. I don't know if that made sense; what I'm trying to say is that it made me even more respectful toward those who have deep-seated religious feeling.

[escap1974.livejournal.com]

I believe the guy proved that people who don't believe in organized religion are pretty stupid sometimes, too. Just sayin'. That was a pretty ugly thing to say.

I'm Christian as well, and I think you articulated very well reasons why I don't talk about my religious beliefs online. People automatically assume I'm uneducated, or an extremist. Which, while incredibly false is also really offensive.

[demonqueen666.livejournal.com]

I think you were perfectly eloquent. No need to fret on that point.

I myself am not a big fan of organized religion, mainly because none of my personal believes align up nearly well with any one group's particular "message". But while I can be cynical for the most part I try not to judge people just because they hold certain beliefs. Seeing as how that's not unlike doing exactly what organized religion is so often accused of: persecuting others because they don't believe the same things as you do.

And it's wrong. Regardless of what side of the aisle you're starting from.

[chrryblssmninja.livejournal.com]

I don't talk about religion because it is such a loaded subject. It is especially loaded lately. There is a belief among lots of people, especially here, especially on the internet, that if you believe in a higher power, you are either out of touch, an extremist, fundamentalist, or you're stark raving mad.

I resent this idea--the idea that if you believe in a higher power, that you're delusional and incapable of higher thought; that you're stupid. I can understand how some people can arrive to that conclusion. But at the same time, there are stupid people who don't claim a faith. Just because you do not have a religious belief system, you are no more or no less intelligent than someone who does.

I do not want to be disregarded simply because of the fact that I am religious, and I really wish that more people would actually think before making the sweeping generalization that every person who has a personal belief system that is different than theirs is wrong.

(I wish that I could be more eloquent about this. That's also another reason why I don't talk about faith--because while what I want to say sounds good in my head, when I try and write/type it out, it never looks half as good.)

you stole the words out of my head, dear. (was raised Catholic and chose to remain so)

[alice-ash.livejournal.com]

What strikes me is how socially inept he must be, to blurt out such an ignorant comment in such a time and place. I bet he's a real popular guy *rolls eyes*
I have found that many of the atheists I've encountered are more pushy about their beliefs than the christians I've known... which is pretty amusing, really!

[cottleston-pie.livejournal.com]

I love the sentiment(?) in your subject. That's going up on my Facebook.

I also love the way you handled that idiot in your class. Sometimes I feel that atheism has become just as dogmatic as certain fundamentalist sects, and people are going around shooting their mouth off about something they know nothing about and believing they are smarter because of it.

By the way, I thought you expressed yourself VERY eloquently, with an honest and intelligent argument. I especially like this:

I really wish that more people would actually think before making the sweeping generalization that every person who has a personal belief system that is different than theirs is wrong.

I wholeheartedly agree. Atheism is going to have it's own Inquisition if people keep this up.

[the-muso.livejournal.com]

i love that song by john mayer :D

and your so right... im a christian (im getting used to saying it, its only a recent developemnt but a long time coming) and i realised the other day my mum would have an easier time accepting me as being gay than she would a christian. Although always extolling the "open-mindedness" when we were kids, she would make little remarks about christianity so that i would feel guilty about going to church with my friends. And thats really hard.

I found this great quote the other day ... "God calls you to the place where your deep gladness and the worlds deep hunger meet" ... which is really helpful cos i was really struggling with purpose and all that but that really reaffirms things. Not saying thats what your hinting at, im just sharing.

I just watched these with my friends the other day and they blew me away (http://www.word.com.au/details.aspx?ProductID=560417) and this book (http://www.amazon.com/Captivating-Unveiling-Mystery-Womans-Soul/dp/B000TG2FVC/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208356093&sr=8-1) ? Amazing ... Just thought id share :) Your not alone in your thoughts...

ps sorry bout the long web addresses - i dont know how to make them links with just a word that you can click :) sorry