I have certainly participated in
the occasional debate when someone is being particularly judgmental, however in
general I’ve tried to stay away from the constant propaganda flooding the walls
of message and ex-message believer walls. This is for a pretty simple reason,
I’ve moved on. I understand why others feel the need to constantly try to
convince others of their motives for staying with their belief system despite the double standard necessary to stay with it, and the reasons for the others to
continue to try to convince the believers that their reasons for staying are
not justified. Good for them. Personally though I’m too busy working on myself
to bother myself with what everyone else believes. Some people are getting out
of one pothole, and then turning around and yelling at those still in it
without realizing that they’ve walked backwards into another. I have realized that
there are plenty of potholes in front of me without having to worry about those
behind.
Continue to challenge your beliefs,
and assumptions. Keep moving and don’t stagnate. Don’t worry about those in the
potholes behind you. You yelling at them telling them they are in a pothole
will only cause them to yell back, without even ever considering that you might
be right. Instead don’t judge them for believing what they believe. I am a firm
believer that encouraging critical thinking will cause others to realize for
themselves where they are standing. Tell a man who has always been in a cave
that he is in a cave, and he won’t believe you. However, if you encourage him only
to explore the cave, he will soon find the exit on his own. Does that mean you
can never point out problems in their belief system? No, but I challenge you to
reevaluate how you are doing it. Put yourself in their shoes. Imagine someone
telling you that you are wrong, and try to figure out how best you can help
others in a nonjudgmental way (while continually keeping your focus on bettering yourself) . More than anything encourages them to find the
answers for themselves. You may be snickering to yourself knowing that I have
not always succeeded at this, and you would be right. It is what I strive for,
and I do my best not to be a hypocrite in the matter.
I would like to kindly point out
that no matter whether you think that your thoughts came directly from a god,
or whether you think that you think that you are just supremely intelligent and
cannot be wrong about your core beliefs, you are incorrect in my opinion. There is no person
on earth or anywhere else with all of the answers. Think a moment of all the
different religions of the world, and whether any of them think they are wrong.
How many believe they have absolute truth? Are you so deluded to believe that
every other beliefs is wrong while yours is right, even though you wouldn’t
believe what you believe if you were born in another part of the world? If you
were born in Saudi Arabia, you would almost definitely be Islamic. If you were
born in India you would almost definitely be Hindu. You’ve had spiritual
moments? So have they. But there’s are of the devil? Well, maybe you are. I’m
not asking you to change what you believe, I am only asking to consider for a
moment that you could potentially be wrong. I don’t care whether you are a
message believer, a Christian, a Hindu, a Buddhist, an Atheist or whatever. I’m
asking you to challenge what you believe or don’t believe. I’m asking you to sincerely
look at what others believe, and more importantly why they believe what they
believe. Why does a Mormon believe Joseph Smith is a prophet? Do you know? Why
do people follow Benny Hinn? Gandhi? Mohammed? Everyone believes what they
believe for one reason or another, and too many don’t even stop to consider
opposing viewpoints. All they care about is disproving yours, I want to throw
out another challenge both to myself and you. Let’s never get caught in “exclusive
truth” mode where we don’t think we can be wrong.
So what is moving forward for me
right now? Next week I’m going to resolve to start exercising and meditating
every day. I want to increase my self-discipline as well as my “mindfulness” of
my body, surroundings, and mind. I also
sit and think about my assumptions about how I’m supposed to live life, and
then challenge them to find whether they are just social norms, or the only way
to think about the topic. The latter is rarely the case. I would like to start
exercising again not because I want to be buff and look good so much as I want
to feel good. I miss the feeling of being in good physical shape, you feel more
alive. Life is short so I figure I should make the sacrifice to feel as healthy
as I possibly can. I fully intend to become as much a master of my own
faculties as best I can. I certainly have a long ways to go. Moving Forward,
Never Judging.
I would encourage you to not only
watch but think about this video (It's not made by me). Not only think about it, but I challenge you
to pray about it. I challenge you to meditate on it. And lastly, I challenge
you to try to understand those who do not follow the same belief as you. You
never know, maybe your view could use a slight adjustment. I know mine definitely does.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIErAz-ZO-I
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