In my post titled Live Your Purpose On Purpose, I talked about a few recurring themes in my life as of late:
- No matter how you think we got here, the maxim remains the same: whatever you are, be a good one. Hate is not a value. Reactions are still actions, & those speak volumes.
- We are all part of this life, even if we’re separate or viewing things from opposite viewpoints. We are, each, also multifaceted & imperfect beings–but, good or bad, we can direct everything about us to “good” ends.
- Our differences in approaches/beliefs/views don’t have to be grounds for conflict. We could use them as opportunities for growth, to learn, etc.
Those themes keep popping up. Watching people trying to scream louder than their perceived enemies. Seeing how closed-off people become after certain social issues are resolved by the government, as if they have no autonomy.
So much chaos & very little productivity. It’s wasteful. We could be doing something beneficial with it all, even just personally (which is what I’ve set out to do).
It’s all just kinda dumb to me. Really, all the “public discourse” & long-suffering arguments have become an exercise in stupidity, much less futility. Nobody’s winning converts, much less making progress on these issues with the back-and-forth “social issue ping-pong”…
Whatever you are, be a good one… Like, with the people against marriage equality: a bunch of my friends from Baylor were all pissy & indignantly righteous when the SCOTUS decided Obergefell v. Hodges. They changed their Facebook profiles pictures to ones of them & their spouses.
I was like, “If your marriage is so important, why wasn’t it already your picture, a-hole??” It didn’t make sense to me that they didn’t seem to DO anything to be the good that their belief systems asked them to be, but they’d use it as a retort when something happened they didn’t like. Kinda typical.
And, just because they’re not gay, they didn’t see the other side of the argument–what it might mean to citizens to be denied access to a government service, as if sexual preference makes anyone less American.
And they’re missing out on one BIG thing I know some of those husbands would like to know, which I know & how proven: how to get your girl interested in football.
…ya, hit me up.
I see that same response often & in many other iterations. And that lack of empathy, sympathy, comprehensive thinking has really put us in a tough spot.
“Solutions” that fail to include all the many parts of a system aren’t going to be sustainable or work long-term.
Those friends failed to see that rights apply to CITIZENS & PERSONS, and not everyone is Christian. Therefore, the citizen sphere will likely include things that don’t apply to Christians. And there’s no forced or mandatory participation in any of it, that is, just because something is “legal” doesn’t mean someone HAS to do it (like the “alll Zorps are Zingers, but not every Zinger is a Zorp” stuff we learned in school).
Nothing is stopping Christians from practicing their beliefs. But many of them feel that way. And they may find that their lack of self-determination, their lack of individual strength & fortitude, and how crappy they’ve been to others over the past few decades have lost them a considerable amount of respect and support from their fellow Americans. (You get what you give, right?)
But, I ask myself: How do Christians feel when prayer was taken out of school?
I’m not saying the ones who say “the government took prayer out of schools” are rght. Hello, I’ve got a MA in GOVT–they’re dead wrong about that. But, that’s the way they receive the decision not to have outright and/or forced prayer in public schools.
But, the overarching theme is something to understand. And the old arguments about all of it are something to be aware of, and then to overcome.
There’s a “bigger” picture.
What’s the point of prayer? To be still in body & mind, to reflect on what you’re grateful for and what you may need help with, or to find a bit of peace.
Do you have to pray to the Christian god to get those things? NO! Meditation offers the same benefits.
And all the other gods and religions and spiritual practices offer the same target for prayer, themes for prayer… even just sitting still for a few minutes, without any divine davening, can do a person good.