Nuance 31

There are few matters of interest than can unveil the chronic and stubborn ignorance in people as a conversation about religion and faith. It seems that my profession as a Christian is problematic for some people, who remain stubborn and resistant to engaging in any constructive dialogue about the Christian faith, preferring instead to stew in misconceptions. It is as though they are somehow nurtured and nourished by this ignorance. By the way, I am not at all interested in proselytizing anyone, simply to help clear up some misconceptions, but no one is biting. This I find very sad, and perplexing, especially given that it is still, what I call, open season on Christians. Even in the dreadful wake of the attack on the World Trade Centre in New York City, or 9-11, I and many Canadians, instead of vilifying all Muslims as mouth-breathing and murderous fanatics, took special pains to learn more about Islam so that we wouldn't get swept in the tsunami of hate and bigotry against Muslims that was sure to follow. I have never heard of similar consideration or compassion offered to Christians. Had they been Christian fundamentalists manning those airplanes, and not Muslims, there would be no end to it. If some people knew that I was a Muslim or a Buddhist, and heard me mention it, or if they read any of my writings in this blog about about my Muslim or Buddhist faith and practice, I am certain that I would not be recipient to snide remarks about my faith. But a lot of secular and atheistic folk who are smug about their intelligence, seem to have an irrational hate-on for Christians and Christianity, and it really pains me that anyone would agree to be my friend in spite of my faith and spiritual practice, treating it like a kind of disagreeable hobby, such as raising pythons, or being a member of the Canadian Conservative Party. And I think that if I had a friend who was a card-carrying Conservative, though I can't think of many Conservatives who could spend more than fifteen minutes in the same room with me without wanting to run away screaming, but I am also willing to be friends with people whose politics I disagree with, if only to learn a bit more about them and to appreciate them as human beings. Do we all have to agree with one another in order to get along? No, even if that might be nice. But we do need to respect one another. And also to show at least some willingness to learn about the issues that divide us, listening to each other openly and respectfully, and addressing one another in a respectful tone. This can easily get lost in long-term friendships as people tend to become rather too comfortable with each other and start taking each other for granted. Nobody has to convert to my faith as a price for my friendship. They don't even have to agree with it. But that doesn't rule out respect, and respect comes with the willingness to sit in the seat of the unlearned with one another and this is a role that is always going to be reciprocated for any friendship to work in the long-run. In the meantime, I am not about to end any friendships, nor burn any bridges. I am only hoping that we can all grow a little bit more in treating one another, and our philosophical differences, with respect. i think it is helpful for people who are in friendship to see if they can draft together a common set of ethics. We might not all have the same beliefs, or values, but there is a universality in ethics, if those ethics are founded on a common and mutual sense of respect and fraternal love and goodwill.