I kind of skipped over this entire conversation while it was taking place, never really had any interest in it, other than to give it a quick glace. Guess I just wasn't in the mood to discuss it at the time. However, one post made by TheBoost caught my attention back then, and I had been meaning to reply to it.
TheBoost said:
canofhumdingers said:
I can treat a person of a different faith with respect, kindness, and love all while believing his faith is completely false. Just because I don't agree with what he believes doesn't mean I hate him or treat him poorly (quite the opposite!), or even talk poorly about his religion to him or behind his back. I can show both him and his religion "respect" without ever agreeing with it.
So, if I read you correctly, respecting someone else's differing faith means to ignore someone else's differing faith?
One of my coworker beleives she's going to magically vanish when God's son floats down from the sky, another believes not only will no one vanish, but that there is no god. A third believes there is no god by Allah and Muhammed is his prophet.
At least two of these people have to be wrong, possibly insane.
Is the only path to respect and coexistance to ignore the giant Godlike elephant in the room?
I think "wrong, possibly insane" is a bit strong. I imagine they are all very wrong, but I just don't see why that matters one bit. I have a few good friends who are practicing Muslims, we've discussed religion with each other before, and have all come to the conclusion that we obviously disagree on that subject and that there is no where else to go with further discussion on that topic. So what do we do? Do we hate each other? Do we consider each other insane? Do we secretly resent each others beliefs? No, we get on just fine and have plenty of stimulating conversation not related to religion. We also disagree politically in HUGE ways, but yet we still manage to have those kinds of discussions without stepping on each others toes too badly. Before I moved away, we'd meet up and go for coffee together frequently, which seems to indicate to me that they enjoyed my company and much as I enjoyed theirs, regardless of our differing belief systems.
In doing this, I don't think any "giant Godlike elephant" was lingering in the room and being ignored. Why should religious beliefs be elevated to such a point that they dictate who we can comfortably hang out with?
My family is pretty big into their religion, and take it quite seriously. I do not believe the same as they do, and that obviously perturbs them to a degree, but I still manage to have a good relationship with them.
I don't think that elephant is such a big deal as some people try to make it out to be, and if it is a problem for some people, then I am afraid the issue lies with them. They need a severe attitude adjustment. Life simply doesn't work that way. Not everyone is going to agree with then about everything all the time, they just need to get over it.
So what if someone believes they reach salvation through leprahauns and dedicate their life to the persuit of rainbows. That is obviously an extreme hyperbolic scenario, and you probably would have reason to believe that person might be made. But someone following some acient tradition isn't all that uncommon, and so does not fit in the range of insanity. If someone wants to believe these ancient traditions, why fret about it? What does it do to us? Why should it be precieved as something as unsightly and hazardous as a giant elephant filling up space in the room? I just have a hard time finding it something to get hung up on.