How can you sit across someone at a table who thinks a belief you hold so deeply is completely ridic? Wouldn't you be all, "why do I want to hang out with someone who thinks this thing that is so important to me is false?"

The thing for me is (and I know I'm not a conventional believer) that the belief I hold is ridic. There's just no way around it. It's not a reasonable thing to believe. I choose to believe despite its ridiculousness. Enough stuff has happened in my life for me to feel like it's not all that possible for me not to believe, despite everything.

So for me, people that don't believe are perfectly rational. I've got no problem with anyone thinking it's false and I'm delusional. It feels that way much of the time for me anyway.

I have more to say about it, but I think I'll stop there for the moment.

I am not offended by people thinking my beliefs are ridic, as long as those people treat me as a person with respect.

I find it difficult to have a relationship with someone who clearly believes I will BURN IN HELL!!!!

Because how can you treat me with respect?

But there's an actions thing that Strega brought up. Ultimately, I think I'm more afraid of hurting someone's feelings because my belief system involves...non-belief? Does this makes sense?

Trudy, that argument sounds like the jar of peanut butter is proof that evolution doesn't exist. A belief in the supernatural isn't the same as the set of emotions human beings feel that are the result of chemicals floating around in our heads.

ETA: I apologize if this appears to be mean. I'm rereading some things I've said inconversations with others, and gah, I can be really cruel. I'm totally not coming at you from a mean place.

I find it difficult to have a relationship with someone who clearly believes I will BURN IN HELL!!!!

Well, yes. But not everyone who Believes thinks you will.

I forgot to bring it around to why I'm a hypocrite, while it doesn't bother me if someone goes to church on Sunday and has issues with abortion and such, it makes me bonkers when someone holds up a copy of The Secret in the same way as a friend would hold up the Bible.

Neither drives me bonkers, both just kind of make me shrug. I suppose it's that The Bible doesn't claim to be scientifically accurate (though some of it's followers claim it is) and The Secret does?

Certainly not all believers think a non-believer will burn in hell. and even amongst those that do believe that, I'd think at least a portion of them would feel it their Christian duty to respect you as a creation of God and to treat you adn show you respect as a reflection of how a good Christian acts.

But not everyone who Believes thinks you will.

Nilly once said to me that "no one knows god's scorecard."

And that was my most favorite thing Nilly said to me.

Certainly not all believers think a non-believer will burn in hell. and even amongst those that do believe that, I'd think at least a portion of them would feel it their Christian duty to respect you as a creation of God and to treat you adn show you respect as a reflection of how a good Christian acts.

Oh yeah, and that's mostly been my experience all my life, msbelle. True dat.

And, as per usual, Nilly is absolutely correct.

I always think of how in The Horse and His Boy all the true believers of Tash (the false god) got to cross over into Aslan's world even though they didn't believe in the "right" God. So, believers and non-believers who treat others with respect and love are the same-- it doesn't really matter what you believe just what your actions are and where your heart is. Or something. And I don't even know that I believe, just that I don't not believe.