Discussions Only We Know
When Religion/Political Topics Come Up
So last week we discussed How Outspoken is Too Outspoken?. As I mentioned in that post, this comes in various ways and in various weights. Being over-opinionated about whether a book was good or not and trying to force that opinion on others is not on quite the same level as forcing a religious, political, etc. belief on someone. So how do you tackle that? The last post was more geared around the first example, the kind of over-opinionated that wants you to feel the same way they do about a particular book or way to blog, etc. But in this post, I’d like to stop for a minute to discuss what do you do when it’s the other scenario? What do you do when an author or a blogger or anyone else is trying to force a religious or political belief on you?
Who’s right and who’s wrong? Is there a right and a wrong? What determines that? Is it actually possible for two people that have differing opinions to both be right? Can two people with different opinions live in harmony? Is that actually possible? And I’m not talking about “I like the color green and you like brown so we can’t be friends.” I’m talking heavy, weighty, important topics.
This particular subject is difficult for me because I am a religious person. I don’t wish to force my religion on others, but I believe what I believe because I honestly think it is truth. Some of my religious beliefs aren’t popular right now, and the more I feel my beliefs are persecuted against the more vocal I want to become. It has never been my desire to go into politics or even religion very much on my blog. That’s not what I started this for, and to a large extent I still don’t want to bring those things into my blog.
But I am defined by my religion. I am a Christian. I am a Christ-follower. Am I perfect? Of course, not. That’s the very reason why I need Jesus Christ in the first place. He lifted me up out of my sin and death and covered me with His blood so that I can have eternal life with Him. I’m not trying to preach to you, but I am trying to explain to You that that’s who I am. I am a redeemed believer. I am a daughter of the Most High. And after He offered Himself up to die for me—His blood as the payment for my sins—how can I be ashamed of the calling that He’s given me? How can I be ashamed of Him at all? I’m not, and I won’t be. It’s who I am.
Regardless of whether I’m a Christian or not, I still have a right to my voice. As do you. When faced with being force fed something we don’t believe in or agree with one way or the other, what do we do? Do we keep quiet? Shut our mouths and hope that it’ll pass? Do we stand up and speak? Do we let our voices be heard? So what happens if everyone is speaking so loud that no one is heard? Who is right? Who is wrong? Who determines that? What am I supposed to do when my belief in what’s right and what’s wrong isn’t popular? Do I sit down and keep quiet? If I speak up will I be accused of being full of hate or malice or discrimination or following blindly an antiquated and outdated religion? Should that cause me to keep quiet? Should I let misconceptions about me and my God go unaddressed?
What do you guys think? Would you keep silent when you disagree? Or do you feel compelled to speak out even when what you think isn’t popular? Let me know!
I'm a Christian too; and it is kind of hard to be the light in the social media world, to be honest. I haven't encountered opposition (yet). But I think the key is to show that being a follower of Christ is living with love. I think it's okay to speak up, but not in a condescending and condemning way. We always have to mind our actions because that will be our very testimony as Christians. :)
ReplyDeleteI would not be where I am today, I would not be ALIVE today, if it weren't for Jesus. He is the reason for everything beautiful in my life. I have felt like I am being beaten for my belief in Him so many times, and I will say that when I was younger, it would make me be quiet. Now, I stand up for myself and my Faith in Jesus. As you said, He laid down His life for our sins, He washed us clean. The very least that I can do for Him is to be steadfast in my faith in Jesus Christ. And even if I feel bullied for it today, I still feel BLESSED beyond measure! THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for this post. It was a wonderful thing to read today, and it is another reminder of just how very good our God is!
ReplyDeleteThis is a difficult question... I have had people try and force their beliefs on me (it was obscure things that I've never heard of but had no intention of simply giving up my beliefs and following theirs). I think the best thing to do it respectfully say that you've already found your peace and your place in religion and if they persist, changing the subject helps. With a lot of my friends who have different religions, we just don't talk about religion unless it comes up and then you're respectful of the other person's beliefs. I feel like the most important thing for everyone to do is to learn to let other people believe what they want to (so long as they aren't hurting anyone else of course). In our world, everyone is trying to convince everyone else that their religion or belief system is the best and I feel like that's not true at all. We were all created by the same thing, whatever that might be and everyone is going to have a different opinion. The focus of almost every religion (probably every religion) is to help you be a better person. That's a great goal for everyone to strive towards.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Aizel that it's important to not be condescending towards different belief systems.
This is such a great topic! That might be one of the problems is that we never really talk about religion and how to respect other people for it. We all get so caught up in stereotypes. While religion does define a lot of who you are, two people with different belief systems can still coexist.
Laura @BlueEyeBooks