We are different, and I'm okay with that.

Published on November 21, 2004 By dharmagrl In Misc

I'm different.

I'm not like you. I don't share your faith, your beliefs, your religion.

And I am perfectly okay with that.

I'm not against your praying for me. I'm not against your quoting the bible to me. I'm not even against your talking to me about your faith. I'm happy for you that you have something that you wholeheartedly believe in, that gives you comfort, that makes you happy. I experience the same feelings when I practice my life philosophy. I'll even go to your houses of worship with you, because I respect your right to practice your faith.

What I am against is your relentless pushing and shoving and insisting that I conform to your rules and to your standards. I am tolerant of your beliefs, and I ask that you be tolerant of mine. I don't put rules and conditions before you. You do it to me, though. I don't tell you that you cannot do this or cannot do that because it offends me. Again, you do it to me. Your intolerance towards me makes me, the person who is usually tolerant, want to dig my heels in. It makes me want to insist that you respect me and my beliefs, it makes me want to force you to accept me. I don't like intolerance, in any form, but your relentlessness makes me become that which I dislike.

It makes me want to scream.

I'm different, and I'm okay with that. You, apparently, are not.

Comments (Page 1)

Danny Bassette

on Nov 21, 2004

Amen to that

dharmagrl

on Nov 21, 2004

Amen to that

Haha! Danny made a funny!

Texas Wahine

on Nov 21, 2004

This is good, dharma. I don't know why so many feel the need to push their will on others.

dharmagrl

on Nov 21, 2004

This is good, dharma

Thanks!

I don't know why so many feel the need to push their will on others.

Neither do I. This article came about partly because of another thread here. Someone said that they, as a christian, were tired of compromising. I can see why they would feel like they are....but I can see too why their insistence would make a normally tolerant person want to protest and fight until they got what they wanted.

That, and I'm getting fed up of being told I'm evil and I'm going to hell.

Texas Wahine

on Nov 21, 2004

This article came about partly because of another thread here.

I saw that, dharma . . . he was trying to put words in your mouth and shape you into some kind of liberal Christian-basher when clearly you are not either one of those. Some people need to someone to fight against and feel persecuted by. I think that's what was going on with him.

dharmagrl

on Nov 21, 2004

Some people need to someone to fight against and feel persecuted by.

Why is that? I mean, they're literally the moral majority.....why do they feel the need to play the victim?

Texas Wahine

on Nov 21, 2004

Why is that? I mean, they're literally the moral majority.....why do they feel the need to play the victim?

I dunno. I've seen a lot of really unbecoming behavior coming from that direction, which is sad . . . they complain about the behavior of the left (and rightly so), but then sink to the same level themselves. It's particularly strange that he decided to pick on you of all people.

dharmagrl

on Nov 21, 2004

It's particularly strange that he decided to pick on you of all people.

I thought the same thing.....after I had stated quite clearly that I wasn't the one offending him or making him compromise.

I think that he just needed to rant, and I was there. That's okay.

It still does irritate me that people feel the need to 'save' my soul. It's a bit like The Borg..'resistance is futile'...'you will be assimilated'...

Texas Wahine

on Nov 21, 2004

I think that he just needed to rant, and I was there. That's okay.

That's one of the things that's so beautiful about you dharma. You can separate yourself from the emotion and the drama and be okay with things that drive other people mad.

It's a bit like The Borg..'resistance is futile'...'you will be assimilated'...

I think it's funny that they think they're going to "save" anyone's soul by being agressive and telling them how wrong they are.

Yup. Thanks for alerting me to the fact that I'm a wretched person and every life choice I've made is sinful. What's that you say? I'm going to hell because I don't live my life exactly the way you live yours? OK, sign me up for some of that salvation, then.

Who goes for that crap? I've never heard of anyone converting because someone told them how awful they were and that they were bound for hell . . . that tends to just piss people off and makes them stop listening.

dharmagrl

on Nov 21, 2004

I've never heard of anyone converting because someone told them how awful they were and that they were bound for hell . . . that tends to just piss people off and makes them stop listening.

...you're right. It does.

If I were to sign up for that reason, what kind of a Christian would I be? I'd be fulfilling Pascal's wager, and I'm not going to to that. My heart wouldn't be in it, I wouldn't really believe....and those who do believe would probably find me offensive (and rightly so).

All I want is tolerance. From left and right, from Christian and non-christian.

JennyCD

on Nov 21, 2004

Great article Dharmagrl. People do tend to want to push their ideas of what is right, wrong, and acceptable onto others. You show a great deal of respect and tolerance in this article while at the same time expressing consternation at the lack of same from others.

Very well written and effective.

J Hayes

on Nov 21, 2004

Fantastic. Best thing I've read on here yet.

iamheather

on Nov 22, 2004

Fear and condemnation will never convert anyone to anything. It drives them away. Dharmagrl, we definitely have differing religious beliefs, but I prefer to enjoy what we have in common and learn from what we do not.

One of the best ways to attest to the strengths of any religion is to live your life in a way that makes other people question, "What is it about X that makes them so happy, or strong, or at peace?" Obviously the above mentioned person that attacked you has none of that. Sad really.

dynamaso

on Nov 22, 2004

Viva La Difference...

Never a truer word written more succintly - lovely stuff, Dharma. You've done it again.

dharmagrl

on Nov 22, 2004

People do tend to want to push their ideas of what is right, wrong, and acceptable onto others

We're all guilty of that to an extent, I think. But, what works for one person may not work for someone else...and therefore shouldn't be forced upon them.

Fantastic. Best thing I've read on here yet.

Wow...! Thank you!

Fear and condemnation will never convert anyone to anything. It drives them away.

You're right, it doesn't, and it does drive people away. That's part of the reason I don't want to participate in mainstream christianity anymore.

Never a truer word written more succintly - lovely stuff, Dharma

Wow, again! Thank you!

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