Because ignorance – and especially willful ignorance – always lead to anger and violence. You might not witness it, but it does.  (Something to remember as you assume that you are on a level playing field.)

Purloined from the “Book of X.”

Over-simplification? Yes, of course. Typing slow for anyone still looking in the rear view mirror for guidance.

So much of our lives is consumed by the asinine march toward certainty in regards to religion and faith.

It’s not enough to have our own ideas and moral/ethical structure. We often feel the ominous need to be right about every aspect of it. Lost in the shuffle many times is the idea that we are all on this planet, trapped together in one large societal mix.

We spend our lives focused on what we ‘know’ to be true. Instead of looking outward to listen and learn and potentially expand our outlook, we treat new information as heresy and a challenge to our own truths. We turn out the lights in our own minds, fiercely protective of our own version of the truth. In so doing, we lose touch with other people, forgetting that they are us. If your faith is authentic, it should never feel threatened by the presence of other ideas or other faiths.

We spend countless hours reading the same texts and words, seeing the same truth each time. It blinds us to the reality that the texts and beliefs we’ve inherited are flawed. For those who follow Jesus, surely you see the parallel in his life regarding religious authority and the truth he was attempting to seed into the world. Those rejecting his message were utterly convinced of their righteousness toward those threatening ideas.

Even though most religious people can gather in a circle and nod their heads in agreement toward the message of love and compassion, we find ourselves distracted by dogma and the burn toward being right in our specific realm of ideas. We angrily walk away from our circle of believers over trivial things, usually saying something such as “But the Bible clearly says…” even though we know that the Bible isn’t exactly clear on a lot of subjects. We also know that if so many people disagree about what it actually says, we have a problem much different than simple disagreement.

Religious belief is going to wither further if believers can’t stop focusing on dogma and superiority of belief. None of it matters if you are clouding your own mind and locking out entire portions of the world. Jesus didn’t sit in comfort amongst the believers. He lived in the middle of a practical world.

As an outsider,  I see daily how crazy it looks to observe someone demean another person for his religion, denomination, or set of beliefs. Just as you look upon someone else as if they don’t have a clue, many people in turn are looking at you, wondering how you arrived at such crazy ideas. One man’s idea of religion looks preposterous to another. That’s the nature of religion. No matter how certain you are of your ideas and faith, trust me when I tell you that a lot of people think you are nuts, uneducated, or irrational. That’s how human beings tend to function.

There is another way, though. Instead of focusing on dogma and what you know to be true, try focusing instead on love and compassion. Helping others with food, clothing, education, and health care. Not being cruel or harsh when avoidable. Never taking advantage of someone. Remembering that your religion demands service toward others before service to oneself. Don’t focus on what someone else is getting for free. Focus on your blessings. Share them.

When you encounter ideas that contradict yours, at least in the religious sense, don’t assume the other person is lesser than you for their religion or god. Resist the urge to label them as uneducated, inhumane, or stupid. Their religions sustains them just as yours gives you a meaningful and powerful way to relate to your world. Grant them the same initial respect of humanity. Doing so will not lessen your dedication to your faith in any way. It will train your heart and mind to be receptive to everyone in your path.

I love nothing better than interacting with those rare religious people who don’t feel the urge to push their religious ideas on me. I usually learn a lot and can gauge their ideas without feeling like there is a power dynamic. Why it seems difficult to be both religious and laid-back in one’s approach to sharing one’s ideas is an ongoing puzzle. Any element of coercion about one’s beliefs tends to cause an opposing, resisting reaction in others. Yet, many religious people don’t see it. Much more can be accomplished when you let people discover your religious ideas, after observing how you talk and behave. The power of example communicates more effectively than insisting. (I admit my hypocrisy at not being able to shut up on many topics, too, but none of mine have the underlying threat of eternal loss of soul for disagreement!)

“Truth that is “self-evident” doesn’t need a fist in the face to convince anyone.” – x

Where opinions rule, it is best to avoid the temptation to pontificate, insist, or eye-roll. Like it or not, religious beliefs are indeed opinions. I’ve written many, many times about the breadth and complexity of religions and ideas in the world. It is a  presumption to insist that your particular idea is the “one” which is correct above any other. Millions of people spend their lives studying and thinking about all sorts of religions, yet despite all the intelligence being directed toward religion, a startling array of religions, denominations, and ideas remain, many wildly incompatible with the others. Despite this ongoing intellectual disagreement, some people still pound the table with religious condemnation when presented with an opposing opinion. Quite a few others resist being vocal about their dislike of people thinking they are wrong, but this dislike of opposing religious viewpoints quite often fuels indirect behavior with the intention of quashing doubts in other people.This is one of the many reasons secular societies are preferable to religious ones.

(“After decades of thinking about it, basic capitalism and most religions aren’t compatible without considerable strain on the definition of both sides of the comparison.” – x )

The urge to preach and insist on correctness is too strong for a lot of people. This is the kind of religionthink I don’t like. (To have no doubts, and not think twice about having the power to force your particular concepts on everyone else, usually with arguments about undeniable truth or the obviousness of your claims.) To many, it would never occur to them that they could be wrong about many of their ideas or that they were guilty of some of the sins their own religions would accuse them of. Many know that they must affably claim to recognize their own shortcomings but privately know that theirs is the proper course.