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Religious Debate
I came across this parable last fall. I told it to my Freshman English class when we began our Utopia unit.
Comments
i was wondering, have any of you been really questioned about your beliefs, and if so how did you deal with that? i ask because i actually got angry with this man, and his unwillingness to consider that any belief but his own could possibly hold any truth!
any comments would be greatly appreciated,
Dan.
that IS strange...
He was desperately holding onto his belief, along with the powerful tribal instinct of needing everyone else to be of the same mind as him. In other words, his belief is 'truth' and so he just desperately needs to have everyone in the 'tribe' on board with his 'truth'. All this energy strings from his deep seated fear, like an animal cornered, and along with a serious need for his life to have meaning! Your anger also stems in part from these same roots. It is visceral, emotional, irrational. The only way to rise above it is to leave behind your fears, needs, and the beliefs to which they are attached. If and when you figure out how to do that, let us all know, for there is a whole world waiting for that secret...
but i do not think that my own anger was irrational; unnecessary maybe.
i was angry because of this man's manner - he was very agressive, and underneath the surface...there was that ugliness and yes, fear!
and yes, i have met christians with good intent, even some who i would say were not far from the way...
but i'm over it now, which is my way of saying that i've used the event as a lesson!
Blessings to all.
Anyway, I find that no matter the discussion topic, the harder I or anyone else hold on to my viewpoint as being the "truth", having "the" answers, the more difficulties there will be with communication. And I think every human being struggles with this in one way or another. As when Carl talks about tribalism, and instincts, I think we're hard-wired to protect what we think aids in our survival - unfortunately, most of civilized life is pretty removed from basic biological survival.
I find it hard to stay calm when someone pushes my buttons in some way - which happens in situations like this where a religious belief is pursued as absolute truth, and if I don't agree I'll burn in hell, or something similarly judgmental. But that's just what it is - a human being expressing judgment. The more compassion I can have for the other person's need to feel secure, the more I can see past the surface judgments. Often it takes awhile for my own emotions to calm down - in which case I'm still thankful when I come back to a more accepting view of the other person, and of myself.
Then I usually walk away, if they walk with me and persist I remain quiet and keep walking away.
If I am in a devilish mood (pun intended), I'll just roll my eyes, go "awww geeze", give a contemptuous laugh, shake my head and then walk away.
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thanks to everyone for replying to this, i appreciate the insights.
On the way out I told my kid "You're the lamb of god and I'm going to hell, lets get a corndog."
Spring has sprung and so much to do, but finally I'll take a few moments to respond. Although the internet allows for instantaneous responses, I've found that it is more restful when I deal with as though it were snail mail.
By irrational, I mean any life process that is not of the '[chref=49]mind [/chref]'. Emotions (anger, fear and such) take place in the brain stem, of there abouts, not in the grey matter from which rational reason springs. Indeed though, I suspect most - if not all - of even 'pure' reason ('buddhi' as the Bhagavad Gita puts it) is rooted down there in our primordial ancient emotional being. You know, the 'animal' we are always seeking to feel [chref=39]superior [/chref] to and transcend. Nonsense I say. Observe the primordial 'self', watch it do its thing, know it, accept it so you can return to nature's simplicity. Resisting - or [chref=8]contending [/chref] as the Tao Te Ching puts it - is futile. Surrender and take the [chref=66]lower [/chref] position.
now i prefer to say little or nothing at all, out of a desire to avoid conflict.