Back to the blog. The author isn't a preachy type, at least in his blog, and I find this to be good, and refreshing for someone who seems to be such a staunch Christian. The difficult part is that I saw one of his web pages that he did for a pro-life group, which bothered me.
I'm not sure why I'm put aback by the revelation that someone is very religious, especially very Christian. For pete's sake, my mother was almost a nun! Maybe its because it often is followed by a certain kind of inability to be accepting of others and people with other views.(something that my mother has no problem with, she loves everyone, including the psycho, evil, heartless girlfriends I've had in the past(until they broke up with me(which was somtimes my fault) and broke my heart(i just added that last bit to mess with more parenthesis))) And with staunch Christianity often comes a militant rejection of the possibility of gay rights and pro-choice rights. I think that's why I dig the Unitarians so much, they are welcoming of everyone, as long as they're kind and welcoming of others themselves. Its a friendly, warm atmosphere, and even anti-social me enjoyed their coffee socials. Sure, I was still a little uncomfortable, but I was more at ease than normal.
I know plenty of pagans, and I'm happy that most of them are accepting of others, and their views, because I've also met pagans that are as hard-core as any Christian, and as anti-Christian as any Christian is anti-pagan. Tolerance is the key to me, and I think that should be the message at the core of every religion. Some are more geared towards this idea, such as Buddhism, others aren't. Islam, ironically, is geared towards tolerance and equality, at least in the teachings of Mohammed. Like any religion, his teachings have been skewed to match the views of the ruling group, and now many people think of Islam as the most intolerant religion around.
And don't get the wrong idea that I dislike people being religious. I think I've made that clear here, but in case I haven't, I have no problem with people celebrating their faith, as long as they've consciously looked at what their religion is putting forth, and believe in it, or believe in enough of it to follow. I took a good look at Catholicism, and I decided that I couldn't call myself part of a church that held the views that the Catholic church does. Do I still uphold some Catholic ideas? Sure, but in no way would I call myself Catholic. There's a pagan I know that is afraid that whenever she practices her religion, I'll be offended or I'll rebuke her for believing in something bigger than herself. I have to keep telling her that I'm not that way, that she can believe what she wants, and she can practice the way that she wants, as long as she truly understands why she believes what she does, even if that reason is "it makes me happy and more at peace".
Back to the blog, again, and my reactions to finding out that the author is big time Christian. I guess that I just have to push through the disappointment that I feel in finding out some of his views, and accept that he is the way he is, like I ask everyone else to do. After all, he's not advocating on his blog for anti-abortion anti-gay marriage laws, so what should it matter to me? On the other hand, he probably supports and votes for politicians that are in favor of such laws. Its a fine, fuzzy line. Either way, until he starts putting it into his blog, I doubt that I'll let it affect me that much, I'll just note it, and add it to the things I know about him, and realize that those views may affect other views that are seemingly unrelated.
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