My pops always used to tell me growing up "that in mixed company there are three things you should never deiscuss because it tends to infuriate certain people no matter how pure your intentions are..And those subjects are religion, sex, and politics.". I never understood what exactly why though. To be completely honest I STILL don't understand completely why those subjects make people so mad...I'm sure there is some willful naivity on my part that keeps me from understanding...because those are pretty much my favorite subjects to talk about.
Thing is...I don't hang in politically mixed settings so I damn near never have any political squabbles. The same thing with "sex". Everywhere I hang everybody loves it. Nobody really has a problem with the mainstream events in sex...Hell nowadays porn cats struggle to keep up with real life...lol...
The only thing I ever come into conflict in is the subject of religion. I've actually had my very first real relationship end over that ish...
What happened? Remember the Million More Movement that popped off like 5 years back? Well I was there and I loved every second of it. I left there feeling empowered. I left there feeling like the world was gonna change overnight. Like black people were gonna finally come together and have a worldwide sense of empowerment once again. Boy was I mistaken. I came back to MI drunk with positivity. Told my then girlfriend what had went down at the march and she said I shouldn't be shouldn't believe that things would change...
Not because of the complexities of the world...
Not because things take time...
But because Ferrakahn is a Muslim, not a Christian...and it says in the Bible that you shouldn't listen to people from different religions.
I being who I am, disagreed. I said that ideal is ridiculous. That there are too many intelligent people on this planet to just write them off because they don't share your same religious beliefs. I also asked that if a doctor came forward and said he or she had the cure for aids would she write dude off...She said yes. I then said "Well in that case I don't even share your religious beliefs! Are you gonna wite me off too."
Famous last words...
and just like that she ended the relationship.
Ever since then I've kinda charged into religious discussions. And no matter what...if they aren't at the same wavelength as I am...the other person always gets upset. No matter what the tone is. No matter how non-insulting I may be. If I'm talking anything other than what they exactly believe eventually they will always get upset.
Hopefully, one of these days something will click. A switch will turn on or something...
You have to realize that religion is personal to a lot of people, me included, so it's not an abstract subject you're discussing. Especially when you're challenging those beliefs. Because my beliefs are more than just that to me, something real and something that is apart of my everyday life.
ReplyDeleteI also like to discuss all those subjects you stated lol. As long as the discussion stays general, it's all good. As soon as it becomes about what I think, it changes lol.
Oh and politics, I work in a Republican county... those convos have been VERY interesting lol.
I think it takes a very open minded person to calmy discuss those topics in a mature manner. You have to be willing to separate your personal beliefs and emotions about the topic in order to effectively listen to the speaking party. Not too many people are capable or willing to do so. I remember discussing the Koran in one of my college classes and one of the women in the class who was Muslim became very upset about the things we would say (this passion was absent when we discussed the bible). Religion is a very touchy subject because it's very abstract and it means different things to different people who all at the same time incorporate those ideals into thier every day lives.
ReplyDeleteI think what you father was referring to was more about conversations between like coworkers and/or your boss. But anyone else . . . if they don't like it oh well. And like you told us, these can be very important covos for learning about people's true stances and morals, and deciding whether they are the kind of people you really want in your life.
ReplyDeleteAhhh, religion! I will talk to ANYONE about ANYTHING related to religion until they pull a "your religion is stupid" move. Then...that person becomes the dumbest person alive to me. A religion is not stupid/dumb simply because you don't agree with some things in it and to outwardly insinuate or flat out say that to someone is the rudest thing ANYONE could possibly do...aside from slapping my mother in the face LOL
ReplyDeleteThat's the problem with discussing religion with most people...they want to turn it into why they are right and you are wrong. It sucks ass...
The thing I hate the most is when someone tries to tell me about a religion I've been all my life...really, you're gonna TELL ME I don't believe in Jesus? Wouldn't it be better to ask me? It's those kinds of things that lead me to believe people are more stupid than they are ignorant because when I try to "enlighten" them as to what the belief consists of (regarding my religion), they don't want to hear. They are perfectly fine believing what they want when it comes to their assumptions about others religion.
It's all utterly ridiculous...