See, the whole concept of proselytising is completely, utterly lost on me. When I listen to someone who has a very strong faith, who fascinates me with the way he/she talks about religion in a not-in-my-face way, THAT's when I start listening. I must say, and I'm sorry if this is generalising, or oversimplifying, that I was utterly shocked when I visited the States in 2000 and so many people were, to my liberal German traditional Lutheran mind, completely too open about their religion. See, our family doesn't do prayers before dinner. Many people may consider this wrong, but my grandfather was a pastor, and he never did it, so why should we? You should have seen the looks I got when I didn't join my hosts. Many of the people I met were scaring me with the way they went about their religion. To me, religion is something private. Yes, I am Christian, but is there any need to shout that from the mountaintop? Many Christians may see this as a sin, or that I'm ashamed of my beliefs. I'm not. But I continue to think that if people want to know about religion, that THIS is the moment when I should start talking about it. Or when the situation is right. And if someone's not sharing my religious beliefs, then there's no point in my trying to convert him/her. It's a) not going to work, if their own belief is strong and b) it's appallingly rude. However, if they show interest, then I can give examples of how faith is helping me in my life, and how it changes the way I see things. But out and about telling that person he/she will go to hell because he doesn't share my beliefs? We're not Knight templars, damn it. And even those were a dark chapter of Christianity, and I don't even want to think about how many people were killed in the name of religion but, ultimately, only out of greed.
So, what this comes back to? I'm very glad I live in a country as liberal as mine is. I know, when you see Lutheran, you probably get a twitching muscle in your jaw. But believe me that the Lutheran church in Germany and the one in the States is different as day and night. We're quiet. Not in a way that we don't do anything, but that we go about religion in a "don't do upon others what you don't want done upon yourself". Sorry again for generalising, but a lot of the American Christians, as much as I marvel the depth of their faith, scare me. Literally scare me. How can you take the bible literally. If you do, then us women couldn't possibly do anything when we have our period. And after birth, we should be separated from everyone else for how many, 30 days? What angers me about Christian fanatics, too, is that they take passages from the Old Testament and use it whenever they suit them, and yet they manage to condemn Jews. What the fuck? Same book in most passages, people, don't you think? (Feel free to correct me here)
Not being Jewish myself, the idea behind that card you received yesterday irked me irrationally. It's disrespectful. It's rude. It's just something you DON'T DO. And insulting your family? I'm sorry, but this is where any kind of fun always stops. Insult the family, face a roundhouse kick in your face with words.
no subject
When I listen to someone who has a very strong faith, who fascinates me with the way he/she talks about religion in a not-in-my-face way, THAT's when I start listening.
I must say, and I'm sorry if this is generalising, or oversimplifying, that I was utterly shocked when I visited the States in 2000 and so many people were, to my liberal German traditional Lutheran mind, completely too open about their religion.
See, our family doesn't do prayers before dinner. Many people may consider this wrong, but my grandfather was a pastor, and he never did it, so why should we? You should have seen the looks I got when I didn't join my hosts.
Many of the people I met were scaring me with the way they went about their religion.
To me, religion is something private. Yes, I am Christian, but is there any need to shout that from the mountaintop? Many Christians may see this as a sin, or that I'm ashamed of my beliefs. I'm not. But I continue to think that if people want to know about religion, that THIS is the moment when I should start talking about it. Or when the situation is right.
And if someone's not sharing my religious beliefs, then there's no point in my trying to convert him/her. It's a) not going to work, if their own belief is strong and b) it's appallingly rude. However, if they show interest, then I can give examples of how faith is helping me in my life, and how it changes the way I see things. But out and about telling that person he/she will go to hell because he doesn't share my beliefs?
We're not Knight templars, damn it. And even those were a dark chapter of Christianity, and I don't even want to think about how many people were killed in the name of religion but, ultimately, only out of greed.
So, what this comes back to? I'm very glad I live in a country as liberal as mine is. I know, when you see Lutheran, you probably get a twitching muscle in your jaw. But believe me that the Lutheran church in Germany and the one in the States is different as day and night. We're quiet. Not in a way that we don't do anything, but that we go about religion in a "don't do upon others what you don't want done upon yourself".
Sorry again for generalising, but a lot of the American Christians, as much as I marvel the depth of their faith, scare me. Literally scare me. How can you take the bible literally. If you do, then us women couldn't possibly do anything when we have our period. And after birth, we should be separated from everyone else for how many, 30 days?
What angers me about Christian fanatics, too, is that they take passages from the Old Testament and use it whenever they suit them, and yet they manage to condemn Jews. What the fuck? Same book in most passages, people, don't you think? (Feel free to correct me here)
Not being Jewish myself, the idea behind that card you received yesterday irked me irrationally. It's disrespectful. It's rude. It's just something you DON'T DO.
And insulting your family? I'm sorry, but this is where any kind of fun always stops. Insult the family, face a roundhouse kick in your face with words.