you can believe in something deeply, and still have a sense of humor about it.
those who can't, take life way too seriously. there is much to be serious about, but there is much to relish. if you can't laugh at yourself, if you can't take a joke, then what good are you to others?
the world doesn't revolve around you, or your beliefs. they are your own to hold and value.
i will respect your beliefs, if you will accept that i have mine. i will not say that you are wrong, and i am right, for neither of us has indisputable evidence. let me believe what i will, noone is going to agree with every thing that you believe, and if they do, they are merely trying to get into your good graces.
the ultimate irony is when we preach freedom and open-mindedness, and then proceed to trample on someone's right to believe what they want to. if i believe that islam is the only right path and you laugh at me and try to force your western ideas on me, how are you any better than me? if you say i am backward based on your limited knowledge of my world, with your ethnocentric attitude, can u blame me if i am tired of listening to you?
everyone wants to change the world, but noone wants to start with themselves, by making positive changes to their attitudes, by being better people. "Changing the world" can start with one person being nice to another. We want to end war, yet we are not willing to be nice to the new girl. Or we want a unified, global culture but we scoff at people merely because they are not as sophisticated or "worldly" as we are? People who think they are "worldly" are most often the ones who are not, because to be that arrogant, to imagine that you are *that* aware, to not consider the possibility that there are SO many things that are beyond your comprehension....that is being the opposite of "worldly". Well, it is merely being an arrogant fool.
"Change" is not just a topic for intellectual discourse, it is something that requires each of us to do something to make OURSELVES better people, and together we can make a very significant difference. If each of us tried to be a better friend, a better brother or sister, a better husband or wife...there would be a lower suicide rate, less crime, less violence...both on a smaller scale as well as from a more global perspective. We can contribute to a warmer, more empathetic, more tolerant society. That doesn't mean we should stop all our other efforts, it only means that without this sort of change at a basic level, we are going nowhere.
those who can't, take life way too seriously. there is much to be serious about, but there is much to relish. if you can't laugh at yourself, if you can't take a joke, then what good are you to others?
the world doesn't revolve around you, or your beliefs. they are your own to hold and value.
i will respect your beliefs, if you will accept that i have mine. i will not say that you are wrong, and i am right, for neither of us has indisputable evidence. let me believe what i will, noone is going to agree with every thing that you believe, and if they do, they are merely trying to get into your good graces.
the ultimate irony is when we preach freedom and open-mindedness, and then proceed to trample on someone's right to believe what they want to. if i believe that islam is the only right path and you laugh at me and try to force your western ideas on me, how are you any better than me? if you say i am backward based on your limited knowledge of my world, with your ethnocentric attitude, can u blame me if i am tired of listening to you?
everyone wants to change the world, but noone wants to start with themselves, by making positive changes to their attitudes, by being better people. "Changing the world" can start with one person being nice to another. We want to end war, yet we are not willing to be nice to the new girl. Or we want a unified, global culture but we scoff at people merely because they are not as sophisticated or "worldly" as we are? People who think they are "worldly" are most often the ones who are not, because to be that arrogant, to imagine that you are *that* aware, to not consider the possibility that there are SO many things that are beyond your comprehension....that is being the opposite of "worldly". Well, it is merely being an arrogant fool.
"Change" is not just a topic for intellectual discourse, it is something that requires each of us to do something to make OURSELVES better people, and together we can make a very significant difference. If each of us tried to be a better friend, a better brother or sister, a better husband or wife...there would be a lower suicide rate, less crime, less violence...both on a smaller scale as well as from a more global perspective. We can contribute to a warmer, more empathetic, more tolerant society. That doesn't mean we should stop all our other efforts, it only means that without this sort of change at a basic level, we are going nowhere.
posted by brown_squirrel at 11:59 PM
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