There seems to be a lot of negative vibes on the subject of religion passing around as of late. People are pretty closed-minded about the whole thing. They don't want to hear about anything except what they know, and when any religion conversation deviates from this, they start screaming "Don't force your X philosophy on me!".. Not everyone does it, just a small, small segment of the population
that gives everyone else a bad name.
Well, I want to know about it.
If a particular belief has been strong enough to effect the way you live your live, there must be something pretty special about it. I don't want you to preach or to try to convert me, I just want to know about it and to understand it as best as I can. Faith is nothing without contrast. And besides, many have been the time that I've gained a greater insight into my own faith by hearing about the faiths of others.
Now, there are those who say that "My religion (or lack thereof) is the one true religion, and I don't want to hear about anything else from anyone because everyone else is WRONG." To those people, to
people who are unwilling to put aside their pious attitudes only a moment, I have this to say to you:
You elitist prick!
If you're Christian (and most of you are), remember this: Jesus didn't go around saying things like "My father is the one true God, so BLOW ME", did he?
No. He listened. He learned. He never forced he beliefs, he simply told what he believed to be true and left it at that. He asked questions, he did not try to prove people wrong.
And if you're atheist, remember this: you may have your logical theories that prove why God does not exist, and that's all fine and dandy. But in the scientific world, if you're unwilling to put your theories to the test, they mean less than nothing -- and any hypothesis worth it's sodium-chloride is given the chance to evolve based on new information; any physics professor will tell you that.
Talk to each other when you're asked. Listen when you're not. You'll soon learn more about each other though calm words then N+1 days of arguing could ever teach you. No one is saying you have to change what you believe, but you do have to learn how to understand your neighbor.
...Of course, I realise that by writing this, I am forcing my beliefs on all of you. It sucks when I'm a hypocrite.