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05/23/2007 01:24:33 PM · #1 |
Everybody believes in something, but some choose to trick themselves into a strange thought that their belief and their worldview does not constitute a belief at all. Neither religion, nor science can explain in full any mystery of life. As to the questions we all ask ourselves, those questions that form our worldview, we take those answers on faith. Some draw hope from it, others despair, and others simply attempt to place consciousness into the far regions of the mind hoping that one day the madness will end.
We are stuck with whatever worldview we adapt. We drag it into every situation that we are in. Regardless of what that philosophy is, it will carry over into the parts of society that we are involved. Some of us will attempt to convert others to our own view point, but never to any avail because it is a decision that is meant only for the individual. We can follow the movement of the masses in our external appearance, but inside where no other man can see, we all have determined on faith what is really real to us.
Life is complicated. We lump others into groups based on 1 idea when that person is comprised of billions of complex thoughts. We say that Christians hate gays, however this is not the belief held by everyone. We say that Atheists hate God, but logic would tell us that a true atheist would not have a feeling one way or another, because how can you hate something that does not exist. We say that all Muslims would like Americans dead, however how can you group the billions of individuals into one overly simplistic category.
Take even a homeless person. Some would say "how is it possible for that person to be homeless?â Others might offer that person $100. Others might spit in their direction. The bottom line is that nobody has walked one minute in that persons shoes. Nobody knows what emotional events, chemical processes, and outside forces have contributed to their situation. Yet we all have an opinion about how they should be. Who are we that from the outside we judge a person? We do it however. We group and categorize each individual into a simplified selection based on one judgment of outward emotive. Yet no man can see the whole picture of an individual.
My point in all this is that I am sick of being labeled into a group that falsely represents me when I state my views. I have formed a worldview that might differ from every other worldview and nobody would know that but me. It is not right that based on one belief I am shoved into a category with others that don't agree with anything else I do. If I were to say I believe in God, what is the first thing that pops into your head? How about if I say that there is no God, we are alone in the universe? What do you think now? How about if I say that we are matter comprised of chance? How about if I say that the Universe is but a figment of our imagination? Or even deeper what if our imagination is a figment of our consciousness that doesnât exist either? Am I crazy? I know that with every question your mind has made assumptions of who I am based on a series of events that has led up to your being who you are today. You are forming a simplified opinion using the resources that you have been given. I do it, you do it, and we all do it. The problem is that we all lack the resources to make these judgments with any complexity. So we simplify them into categories to help us sort out those who feel the way we do from those that donât. Stop labeling people. An atheist is not an ogre, and a Christian is not a hater, A Muslim is not a killer. Individuals are all these things and more, and we will never fully understand why.
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05/23/2007 01:34:12 PM · #2 |
Well worth the read. Very thoughtful.
I hate when people label me (with anything below a 5 or 6)...
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05/23/2007 01:36:41 PM · #3 |
| I have been labeled as a 4.5 latley! |
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05/23/2007 01:38:36 PM · #4 |
You're labeling labelers :-)
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05/23/2007 02:22:47 PM · #5 |
"Quit labeling me!"
"You don't understand me!"
"I'm so misunderstood!"
"Waaa, Waaa, waa..."
I thought I left my children at home.
Quit your bitching and live with it you damned:
God believing,
Atheist ogring,
Christian hating,
Muslim killing,
Individualizing,
Understander.
You can't walk in a homeless person's shoe, they don't like it when you steal them.
(Sorry, couldn't resist your rant with my own rant.) |
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05/24/2007 07:15:12 AM · #6 |
Originally posted by boomtap:
Stop labeling people. |
Interesting. However, I think that your rant against labelling itself is misguided.
Life would be very difficult without labels. If you wanted to explain, say, your religious beliefs to me, then it is easier to say "Christian" than to repeat the substantial elements of the bible that you agree with. We use the label because it encapsulates a lot of meaning in one word.
Labels can be misleading for a couple of reasons.
1. Some labels are associated with inaccurate beliefs. I will give a historical example â the contemporary ones are lost because they will be disputed for the very reason that they are the subject of broad misunderstanding. So â take as an example the association of Jews as being child-eaters in medieval Europe. This was an inaccurate, but widely held belief. When people have associated inaccurate facts with a particular label, then the solution is to better educate those people about the reality.
2. Some labels are very broad. For example, you could refer to yourself as Christian. However, that will not capture your specific beliefs on whether you go to heaven through good deeds or simple belief in Jesus and whether or not transubstantiation occurs in communion. In order to capture those more specific beliefs, the solution is to refine the label (in the case of my example, Catholic or Protestant).
Taking your example of, say, being labelled as anti-homosexual because you call yourself Christian, you may be encountering both issues.
First, it may be a misunderstanding on the part of the general populace that all Christians are anti-homosexual (or the nature in which they are anti-homosexual). If this were the case, then you should take steps to disabuse people of their mistaken notions.
Secondly, it may be your use of a broad label (Christian) when perhaps you should use a more specific label. For example, you might refer to yourself as a liberal Christian, or even more specifically (say, if the context is a discussion on homosexuality) a pro-gay Christian. The solution is in your own hands and how you describe yourself.
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