Is my stance on religion normal?

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11 Comments

Being an Atheist is fine.

Getting triggered by the word "God" and immediately shouting "GoDs NoT rEaL!" upon hearing it, isn't fine.

Being a Christian is fine.

Criticising well-mannered Atheists for a percieved lack of morality due to them not believing in God, isn't fine.

Being Jewish is fine.

Bombing the living daylights out of your nextdoor neighbour, isn't fine.

Being a Sikh is fine.

Disliking someone for worshipping more than one God, isn't fine.

Being a Hindu is fine.

Refusing to associate yourself with someone because they don't worship the same Gods that you do, isn't fine.

Being a Muslim is fine.

Only obeying Sharia Law whilst in a non-Muslim country, isn't fine.

Being a reindeer is fine.

Not allowing another reindeer to join in your reindeer games because you're jealous of their shiny red nose, isn't fine.

Being religious is fine.
Being non-religious is fine.
Being spiritual is fine.

Being a dickhead in the name of your religion (or lack thereof) isn't fine.

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Comments ( 11 )
  • Curiouskitten444
    2 years ago

    Love it, couldnt agree more.

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  • [Old Memory]
    2 years ago

    Yeah that's the normal way to view religion and spirituality.
    People can believe whatever they want that makes them happy and gives their life a sense of meaning, as long as they don't hurt anyone or act superior and mean or try to force it on people who have no interest hearing about it. That goes for everything though not just religion.

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  • Grunewald
    2 years ago

    I'm really sorry if I offended you in the other post, EnglishLad. I like to try and make people think through clichéd ideas and dichotomistic zero-sum or binary thinking, because we aren't always aware of our thinking patterns.

    It's not to say that we are to be regarded as 'guilty' of not trying to look beyond the thought categories we slot people into for the sake of this argument or that - it's just that clichés and dichotomistic thinking do stop us from seeing people as they really are.

    TL;DR: I'm not trying to say that you're a worse person than anyone else; I'm trying to prompt you to think about your thinking.

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    • darefu
      2 years ago

      Do you apply these same standards to yourself.

      Try and make yourself think through clichéd ideas and dichotomistic zero-sum or binary thinking, because you come across as thinking your views are the only right views.

      As you said you might not always be aware of your thinking patterns.

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      • Grunewald
        2 years ago

        It's always a good thing for anyone to do. Part of the reason why I'm recommending self-reflexive thinking to others is because it has helped me!

        A little aside from the main point, however, I am concerned that my words are being taken as an offensive criticism of others' persons, and not as an invitation to growth, which is what they're meant as. All I can say to this is that I can't control how anyone feels about or interprets my words, so if you are *not* offended by me, then that's great and I hope we'll be able to learn together.

        Honestly, since I've started thinking more about my own thinking, I've felt freer in myself and have been more able to listen to people who are different from me on their own terms. I consider the proof to be very much in the pudding because I didn't learn it from the Bible or religious texts as such; I learned it from Critical Thinking classes at my state grade school, from the literary criticism and sociology I read for my Modern Languges degree and Translation and Intepreting masters at public universities, and from my psychotherapist (who is a Christian with secular psychology credentials).

        The point being that it's possible to learn to use conceptual tools from sources whose ideological foundations you don't fundamentally agree with and use them for your own enrichment. It seems obvious for a Christian to learn from sources with a naturalistic/atheistic foundation, but what about naturalists/atheists learning from theists? It seems less obvious, but it is surely no easier or harder. You have to analyse your own reluctance and examine the reasons for the reservations you have though, in order to be able to listen and learn, and decide what you can pick up and what's best left alone.

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        • darefu
          2 years ago

          The only reason I brought this up as a question for you, is the previous comment where you apologized to englishlad.

          You apologized but then promptly implied he wasn't or couldn't think past "clichéd ideas and dichotomistic zero-sum or binary thinking, because we aren't always aware of our thinking patterns".

          Maybe, just maybe he did but still came up with a conclusion that you obviously didn't agree with.

          It just comes across as not really a true meaningful apology if you follow it with that kind of statement.

          Kind of like saying, 'I apologize for disagreeing with your moronic thinking process'

          The whole point I take and agree with from this OP, is it's okay to believe or even disagree with an idea, but reacting with insults or physically against those that disagree or don't believe as you isn't fine, it's being a dickhead (his word not mine).

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          • Grunewald
            2 years ago

            I meant what I said.

            Look, I try to speak my truth and be kind while doing it. If you don't want to trust me that I'm trying to be kind, you don't have to. I'm not doing what I do or saying what I say because I want the world to think I'm a good person. I'm doing it because I want to.

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  • techpc
    2 years ago

    Sounds pretty reasonable. I disagree with your Hindu example, though. I think you can associate with whoever you want for whatever reason, and it's your business alone. You can't a dickhead simply for choosing who you associate with.

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  • litelander8
    2 years ago

    And this concept should go for most things..

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  • Somenormie
    2 years ago

    I don't see your stance being abnormal.

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  • bigbudchonger
    2 years ago

    Sounds resonable, dude

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