Religion is something everyone thinks about, but loathes talking about with a person who does not share that belief. The problem is that we will never understand, much less tolerate, people of different creeds if we refuse to communicate and accept that our beliefs are a product of our surroundings.
How can a person understand something they have no experience with?
A Baptist family in a Baptist community raised me. Understanding Catholicism or Buddhism was impossible for me. I didn’t even know other belief systems existed.
As I grew up I began to see inklings of these beliefs, but even when tragedy struck my family I never thought about them. Through experience and empirical facts, my beliefs have changed. Now I feel alone.
Whether they are religious or not, organizations tend to portray their opposition as the “other.” A demon to be feared rather than another rational human being. This categorization as “other” serves only to further the agenda of those in power by artificially creating conflict where there should be none.
Historically, Texas has never been much for understanding different religions. According to the Pew Research Center, 77 percent of Texans practice a form of Christianity, four percent practice non-Christian faiths and 18 percent did not identify with any faith.
We can see this in our politics.
Senator Ted Cruz shouting, “God bless Texas,” and President Donald Trump shouting, “God bless America.” Religion has unnecessarily divided us.
The United States has always had an “us and them” mentality, but we have turned that division on ourselves.
This column could point out each instance Trump has incited the fires of hate towards Muslims, but the absent-minded howling coming from the racist Troll doll in the White House has been covered to death.
Instead, I will use examples that happened at Texas A&M University – Kingsville (TAMUK) this semester.
During the Fall 2018 semester, the Secular Student Alliance (SSA) officially became a chapter at TAMUK. Many students may have seen their flyers around campus claiming that they are, “The best damned group on campus.” Others saw to it that those flyers were defaced.
To a small degree, that was funny.
However, as a person who still hides his religious beliefs from most of his family for fear of being ostracized, the very thought turns my stomach into a block of ice.
How can a person feel comfortable sharing their beliefs when a simple flyer gets vandalized?
As I walked by the gazebo near the Student Union Building, I was approached by a member of Kappa Chi, an organization whose goal is, “…to proclaim Christ to university campuses all over the world.”
If all this student did were to educate me about their religion, I would have absolutely had no problem.
That was not the case. This student’s agenda was conversion, not education.
This became transparent after I made my religious views clear, quoted a few Bible verses and asked them to respect my beliefs as I did theirs.
They refused.
Despite having the knowledge of the teachings they were praising, the student kept pushing me to convert for 30 minutes.
Is this how discussing religious ideas work now? I am right and you are wrong?
We face a substantial amount of trials and tribulations in the world today. This is one of those issues we could eliminate. Instead of treating a conversation about religion as a competition with a clear winner, treat each other with the respect and decency you would give yourself. Use it as an opportunity to learn, and, above all, be tolerant.