On Beliefs

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I remember a few months ago, I was chatting with a long-time friend of mine. Over the years I've known him, we've flirted here and there, but never officially dated. We lost communication for about six years until he accidentally saw me on Facebook this year. And I was quite surprised by how he turned out.

He's one of the naughty guy friends of mine back in my late 20s, so I couldn't believe that he became an extremely religious guy - a devoted Christian. He's active in his Church and never in a million years did I ever think he's to lecture me about my liberalism.

It was all good, really. He wasn't pushing his religion on me, like most religious / spiritual people I know whose self-righteousness I find ludicrous. And I made him promise that when we see each other again that he'll never talk to me about his religion or his beliefs, what he read in the Bible, etc. I was being sarcastic ‘cause I know religious people like him can’t help  but preach to hopefully entice, rather invite people to join their Bible study group or something.

I can't remember exactly what happened, but while we were chatting, we came into this argument after I was pissed by his inconsistency. He was being naughty one second and then a few minutes later, he was all preachy about right and wrong. I'm like, what the hell?!

So, I continued arguing with him, telling him he was a hypocrite and I was blocking every reason he spews my way. It came to a point that I was already mocking him for his beliefs and his lack of consistency in them. And I’ll laugh when all he can use to reason out was “… it says in the Bible”. In short, we ended that conversation with a heavy heart. I distinctly recall feeling like I won that argument.

After a few days, I realized what I did. I hated other people pushing their beliefs on me, but I never thought, even for a second, that I was doing EXACTLY what I was accusing him of. Upon further contemplation about it, I sent him a message and apologized for how I behaved. I told him exactly what I realized. He didn't say a word, and just accepted the apology. And I made him promise that it was the last time we'll talk about our beliefs and religion.

And I believe that's one of the major problems we have as humans. We don't want other people shoving their beliefs down our throats when, unknowingly, we're guilty of the same sin.

Throughout the years, I realized this as I continued to mature mentally and emotionally. When someone's arguing with me about something I strongly believe in, I listen intently and ponder if I should respond. If I don't find any reason to do so, I just let them believe they're right. Or, I just change the subject altogether. *LOL*

TO EACH HIS OWN. An expression I've overused this year. And I intend to keep that in mind. I will continue to speak my mind, but when I've reached a point when I see it's become senseless, I'll shut up as a show of (feigned) respect. ;)