In 2001 (before I met Tom), I was engaged to be married. The reason the guy gave for breaking off the engagement was that he felt that because I was raised in Sc!entology I wasn't a "safe" person to be around. At one point he said something to me to the effect of "if you renounce your religion, we can still be together". I couldn't do that. Things that I learned about in Sc!entology, things that I found to be true to ME, these beliefs are part of me.
And that, in essence, is why I have no patience for any kind of religious intolerance. I was raised in Sc!entology; Tom was raised Roman Catholic. The night we met we discussed both religions. He expressed genuine curiosity in Sc!entology, and he asked me about my experiences with it, what it was to me...
And I think this is an approach more people should start taking towards religions. The trend seems to be to stay away from any and all religions. But why not talk to someone who practices a religion we may have previously disregarded, and open ourselves to their perspective of it?
We might just be surprised to find that there is something about that religion that strikes a chord within us.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Thoughts at 3 a.m.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Both my wife and I were raised and continue to be practicing roman catholics, so it was easy for me. However, being open to religion is definitely a part of my life as I have friends who are Jewish, Muslim and Hindu and I occasionally do have religion based conversations with these people.
Post a Comment