I was about to post this question on my facebook, but I remembered I have a very close friend who is an atheist and I stopped.
Religion is such a touchy subject, people get offended so easily, so it’s scary to bring up, even for reasonable people who simply want to hear another persons opinion. I’m afraid to pose this question to facebook because it is taboo and I do not want to face the repercussions of someone’s righteous anger.
My friend is bitter about it. He grew up in a small rural town chock-full of deeply religious adults. He did/does not agree with them on certain things, particularly the lack of acceptance of certain lifestyles as well as unabashed racism in many he knew, and this is probably a big reason he is so adamantly against religion today.
I, on the other hand, do believe in a God. I have a very odd belief, that Man created God to create Man. Perhaps I can try to explain this more clearly if you ask me, but I would organize my beliefs under the umbrella of Christianity. I won’t go into details now because it is not entirely relavant to this post. Let’s say that I like to believe myself to be a reasonable Christian and leave it at that.
Fortunately, my friend and I have been able to talk about our religious beliefs calmly and academically in the past. We have talked about it many times, with two longer discussions (lasting an hour or more) over the course of our friendship. The first discussion occurred when he initially told me he was atheist. As I was excited about looking for a church to attend near my college, he was afraid I would be deeply offended by his beliefs and perhaps try to convert him. Honestly, the only thing I was offended by was the fact he was afraid to tell me! That day, we talked about what I believe and why he doesn’t and it was perfectly okay.
The second discussion didn’t go nearly as well. I’m not sure why we were talking about it, but somewhere in the middle of agreement he was becoming angry. I cannot remember what sparked it, but he forcefully told me that “People who believe are stupid.” I believe I was reduced to tears at some point that night. I respect this friend and I very much value his opinion. To hear that he thought religious people were stupid was heartbreaking. Later he realized I was upset. When I told him why, he first rebuffed asserting he never would have said that. I repeated his exact words to him and he told me “When I am talking about religion, you can’t take what I say at face value,” He assured me that he only meant the “crazy religious people” and that he wasn’t saying I was stupid.
“When I am talking about religion, you can’t take what I say at face value.”
That’s the problem folks! Talking about religion gets people angry. Talking about religion gets people emotional and riled up and loud. Talking about religion gets people to say things they don’t mean. If my friend tells me “people who believe are stupid,” I am inclined to believe he means it.
We need to past this barrier. We need to be able to start a dialoge without it turning into a shouting match. We need to stop calling each other stupid and crazy and wrong. We need to listen to each other.
I’m so tired of being afraid to talk about my views on Christianity, and I’m Christian for Pete’s sake! How hard must it be for someone who is Atheist to talk about their views? Or someone who is Jewish or Muslim in America? It isn’t fair. It isn’t right.
It’s so incredibly important that we let people be who they are. It’s so incredibly important that talk to each other without dismissing opinions before they are said.
There is no end to my article because I don’t want this to be the end. Turn this monologe into a dialoge and tell me what you think. Share your beliefs, start a discussion. It’s time to talk, don’t you think?
