when do my rights become an other's oppression?
when do my beliefs?
when does love?
if someone fights for their freedom alone they don't oppress others.
if someone fights for the right to snuff ones freedoms, they have become the oppressor.
people get confused about where i stand when it comes to everyone's right to their beliefs. i believe that people have the right to believe in whatever they choose, i'm not going to tell them its wrong with only one exception, i believe that the only things i can clearly say are wrong to someone else are things that will physically hurt another person or living being. at the same time i believe that when we exercise our beliefs, we need to be careful to allow others theirs. if my belief system says you are wrong that's ok, but i'm not going to take action against what you believe, unless it hurts someone.
should what i believe be what all others around me live by?
i dont think that is true and i dont believe that is love.
i dont want someone else's convictions to define my life, so why should my convictions define theirs?
for me love is letting people be who they are and allowing them the freedom to choose what they life for, all people deserve the same rights i have whether i think they are wrong or right.
i see now, that this is not what all would consider love. somehow people can see love in changing others to fit better with themselves.
what is love? who even defines what it is?
this subject is hard for me to write about, because i feel i can't convey exactly what i'm trying to say in typed letters. its also a hard subject for me in life, because no matter how many people i talk to the mentality of making laws to fit just your beliefs does not make sense. i dont get the mentality of love being one where you dont accept parts of a person because they dont align with your morals.
people being oppressed in any way breaks my heart. it creates a deep ache inside me that i can physically feel. what makes it worse is when people i love dearly support oppression, how do i reconcile that? its not 'oh you just believe what you believe' its ... 'what you believe oppresses another and strips them of their rights, their beliefs, of acceptance' and i dont know how to understand that. i dont know how to make it okay, i dont know how to ignore it.
these are the kinds of things that make me feel like i need to move farther and farther away from christianity. i dont know if this is how jesus was, if these things are what he wanted his followers to do i dont want to be a part of that.. i dont believe that he was like that... but its all i see.
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You should read
"So You don't Want to go to Church Anymore? - by Jake Colsen
and
"Reimagining Church: Pursuing the Dream of Organic Christianity" -by Frank Viola
They have really helped me sort out a lot of doubts I was having and helped remind me what being a Christian really means. A lot like Velvet Elvis. Anyways, thought I'd let you know!
Unfortunately there are a lot of "christians" out there that don't act the way God would want us to act. I think many christians are misunderstood in the attempt to show others their way. Many just don't know when to back off or when to open the door. The thing to realize is your relationship with God is way too important to give up just because there are many that make christianity look bad. All you can do in the end is pray and maybe show the ones that have "ugly" in their hearts, a more kind-hearted way. Jesus is all about love.. it's to bad we all can't follow His example.
I agree with Shelley.
shelly.. and amanda...yea i dont think my relationship with God can be affected by people in that way at all, i would never give up on wanting to know who God is for any reason. when i say it makes me feel like i want to move farther away from christianity, i just mean that it makes me not want to hang out with christian people anymore. i'm not a christian myself. i do care about jesus, think he lived a good life and my point was to say i dont think his intention was to stifle anyone's freedoms or to condemn others beliefs and christians should remember that.
i'm more confused about being close with people when you feel they are supporting hate or oppression. i want to keep being friends, its just hard to have that kind of thing in the air. you know?
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