hello all,
i'm fairly certain every member of this site is going to tear anything i say completely apart, and if that didn't happen i'd be shocked. i have been raised a charismatic catholic but throughout my life have been taught to listen to other's beliefs or disbeliefs, and no matter what they believed or did not believe, i should show them love. why was i taught to love? because as my parents (and i) believe the greatest lesson of christianity is to "love one another as i have loved you".
so tonight i spent several hours speaking to one of the founding members of this website and honestly i thought he would try to convert me. but instead we had a discussion in which i was told i'm "not fun to debate". i do not take my religion at face value. instead i have searched the basic tenets of my faith and discovered that the reasons most (not all) atheists have issues with theists is because they do not look into the reasons behind their faith. i see faith as completely irrational. i accept that there is no indisputable proof behind my beliefs. instead i see the effects of my beliefs. i try (as much as i can i am no where near perfect) to be an example of what i believe jesus to be. i believe that jesus acted out of love and hoped that his display of love would encourage others to do the same. i believe that if i show the same love i have learned from the teachings of jesus (whether or not he existed as my atheist mentor tried to explain this evening) maybe someone else will feel that love and pass it on. maybe they or someone down the line will continue this love and somehow in small ways that love will eventually touch the whole world. am i ridiculously optimistic? yes. i know this and i accept it. but it does not make me want to give up it only makes me what to try harder.