Wednesday, October 24, 2007

PC


Is it appropriate to discuss personal religious beliefs socially? I was trained to actively proselytize for my faith, yet those who do so are perceived by many to be among the most offensive. Last night at work, I experienced the other side of the coin. An associate, who I'll call Blondie, seems to have taken me on as a project. I've been reading "A History of God" by Karen Armstrong. It is what it says, an academic approach to monotheism through the ages. It attracts a lot of attention. After glancing through it, another coworker asked, "Is it favorable to the lord?" Well, what do you say to that?
.
During a conversation about the origin of the details on Christmas, I mentioned that the pope superimposed the Jesus celebration on the existing pagan solstice celebration to promote observance. Later Blondie asked,
B "Are you an atheist?"
rc "No."
B "What are you then?"
rc "I'm an agnostic."
B "What does that mean?"
rc "It means I'm not sure of anything."
B "Do you know what faith is?"
rc "I don't want to get into a theological discussion with you."
B "Do you know what faith is?"
rc "Yes."
B "What is it?"
rc "It's believing in something that you can't prove."
B " 'Faith is the substance...' "
rc " 'Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, for by it the elders obtained a good report.' I've read the Bible five times. I used to be a Christian."
B "Oh, so you know what faith is, you're okay."
.
I'm not precisely sure what that means, but that's what happened.
.
rc

1 comment:

Ms J said...

oh dear..it's extremely uncomfortable to have to define one's beliefs - be it religious or spritual. often best to just stay away from the topic, as i think you tried to do but got pused into a discussion.