2016 Postmortem

While I am someone who is usually antipathetic to religion, one of my closest friends is a woman of sincere religious belief.

Not that it should matter, but she attends a Presbyterian church in our city, and I've more than once attended services with her. While I am not at all likely to become a convert, through her I've come to appreciate that particular brand of Christianity. But more to the point, I've come to understand that she is a woman of very strong religious belief, although she NEVER makes any sort of attempt to inflict her belief on others.

Because we are friends, I often spend time in her home, and I've frequently minded her cat while she is out of town. And so I've had the opportunity to see what books she has on her shelves. Some of them are very specifically attuned to her beliefs.

I want to emphasize that she has NEVER attempted to proselytize or convince me I should believe any differently from what I do, and I'm completely blown away by that. Especially as over time I've come to understand her strong faith.

And this, to me, is as it should be. If you believe something, then believe it. And act within and because of that belief. How you live should be the testament to your faith. Nothing else is needed.

And for what it is worth, in early 2001 I visited Australia, and spent some time with some locals there. One of the women I met was someone who in the U.S. would be a fundamentalist Christian, which is, as you probably already can guess, is not exactly my favorite brand of believer. But what impressed me enormously was that while she expressed her firm and strong faith, it was without any sort of attempt to convert me, or indicate that I (a non believer) was in any way inferior. I was blown away by both her faith and her lack of any sort of attempt to change my own beliefs. It made me far, far more respectful of her own beliefs.

I think the essential problem in our country is that too many people, especially those who fall under the "fundamentalist" category, seem to think they must convert all of the rest of us. If they would only spend their time living their beliefs, showing us that their way of live and beliefs are good and worth emulating, they would get vastly more respect, and perhaps many more converts, than they do by acting as if the rest of us are scum. Sigh.