Random Religious Thoughts

[QuickTwist]

@QuickTwist I hope this discussion isn’t taking the thread away from your intent. It’s really interesting having such a conversation with someone who has in-depth knowledge - I just hope it’s not derailing where you wanted it to go.

Oh, no! It's totally fine! I LOVE having conversations like this! As long as we can still be cool with each other amidst differences, I have no problem with a spirited debate!

 

[John K]

Oh, no! It's totally fine! I LOVE having conversations like this! As long as we can still be cool with each other amidst differences, I have no problem with a spirited debate!

That’s great! No I’m absolutely fine with it. It’s good to move around these things and see them from different angles - I learn so much that way.

 

[QuickTwist]

One of my favorite verses...

1 Peter 1:24-25
"For
All flesh is like grass,
and all its glory like a flower of the grass.
The grass withers, and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord endures forever.
And this word is the gospel that was proclaimed to you."

This verse (Reference Is. 40:6-8) from 1 Peter is one of my favorite verses. The same words are found in this song, which I love as well.

I also have this note for these verses.

"The Word is for Israel comparing between the Word of the Lord and 1 Peter 1:1"

 

[Hyacinth]

I read through all of this… fascinating. I will say the biggest differences that I had between my parents and I were that they were all about the rules and laws and the controlling of the Catholic faith (sorry if anyone here is Catholic but the being told when to stand, kneel, and sit on command seemed really “cult like” to me. I also didn’t like the confession aspect of some priests committing way more grievous sins than I yet I am “forgiven” when generally what I was asking to be forgiving of was having a loving heart and sometimes my mind of where I would go in my thoughts when I was angry with ppl who showed me constant hate. I, however, read all of the Bible and as an empath the parts of the Bible that held the most “truth” with me was how Jesus TREATED his people. So I would argue and since my father was the debator type he wouldn’t just argue with me, he was determined to “win” every discussion and meanwhile I like having open ended discussions where I am free to give my side of how I feel too and I found that was never possible with him. I wasn’t important enough to him so with me being someone who has to question everything and want to learn more and more the way I came about my ideas, logic, and talked about it didn’t appease him. I feel I can talk freely here though and no one will judge me and then if they disagree with what I think and how I believe we can have a rational discussion about how you guys approached it and I can have an open mind to see where you are coming from in your thoughts as well so I’m not as worried about getting triggered with you guys as much as I am other Christians. I can see how those who are the personality types that heavily are influenced by rules, laws, and governance would be more comfortable with a church type setting that requires certain rigidity, structure, and organization. I however see God everywhere I go so I don’t need it in a church setting. I am spiritual so I find him in nature. No one can possibly tell me that he didn’t create the world, just looking at rays coming out of clouds from the sun or the sun glistening down on the water, and just the sheer beauty of everything is enough to convince me of God. Jesus I believe in. I however think he could be a prophet who died on the cross?? The son of God I get confused on, born to a virgin I get confused on, and not having any relations with any women I get confused on. Yes all of it is possible from God and call me a doubting Thomas but INFJs are known for questioning things. I’m sorry but it’s true. I just merrily went my whole life trusting what people told me because as I child I would question it and just get looked at appalled for not accepting it as is and challenging adults so I learned to follow blindly. However the older I get the more curious I am with speaking with like minded individuals such as yourself who can open my mind but not do it in a way that leaves me distasteful with a bad taste in my mouth because I perceive it as coming from a place of power and control and not from mutual respect, love, and understanding. I want to learn, I want to grow, but at 47 my ability to be treated as a child when I’ve been treated like this by so many ppl and shut down every chance has been a struggle trying to gather the information I need to make informed choices for my own personal life. As a whole I believe in Christianity because I’ve seen firsthand how actions from a nonbeliever can affect and ruin the lives of everyone around them so the days of two parents in a loving home putting their children first and loving and honoring each other coming from a place of love and not hate or control is the best way to raise children in a loving and accepting society. Sadly it is hard to do and find in this world of everyone being fake but I still feel like it puts forth a better generation for the generation that comes next. When parents put themselves first over what is better for the family that is when slowly over time the family falls apart because it’s not done through love. It’s done through power plays, dominance and control which isn’t the Christian way. Sorry I’m rambling, anyways, I do know about apologetics, I know about theology as my father would bring home his books from seminary school as he was studying to be a deacon but I’ll admit since he loved to argue and be right versus to have an actual open discussion I learned way more from his books than him.

 

[QuickTwist]

I read through all of this… fascinating. I will say the biggest differences that I had between my parents and I were that they were all about the rules and laws and the controlling people of the Catholic faith. I, however, read all of the Bible and as an empath the parts of the Bible that held the most “truth” to it was how Jesus TREATED his people. So I would argue and since my father was the debator type he wouldn’t just argue with me, he was determined to “win” every discussion and meanwhile I like having open ended discussions where I am free to give my side of how I feel too and I found that was never possible with him. I wasn’t important enough to him so with me being someone who has to question everything and want to learn more and more and more they way I talked about it didn’t appease him. I feel I can talk freely here though and no one will judge me and then if they disagree with what I think and how I believe we can have a rational discussion about how you guys approached and see it as well so I’m not as worried about getting triggered with you guys as much as I am other Christians. I find those who are the personality types that heavily are influenced by rules, laws, and governance would be more comfortable with a church type setting that requires certain rigidity, structure, and organization. I however see God everywhere I go so I don’t need it in a church setting. I am spiritual so I find him in nature. No one can possibly tell me that he didn’t create the world, just looking at rays coming out of clouds from the sun or the sun glistening down on the water, and just the sheer beauty of everything is enough to convince me of God. Jesus I believe in. I however think he could be a prophet who died on the cross?? The son of God I get confused on, born to a virgin I get confused on, and not having any relations with any women I get confused on. Yes all of it is possible from God and call me a doubting Thomas but INFJs are known for questioning things. I’m sorry but it’s true. I just merrily went my whole life trusting what people told me because as I child I would question it and just get looked at appalled for not accepting it as is and challenging adults so I learned to follow blindly. However the older I get the more curious I am with speaking with like minded individuals such as yourself who can open my mind but not do it in a way that leaves me distasteful with a bad taste in my mouth because I perceive it as coming from a place of power and not mutual respect and understanding. I want to learn, I want to grow, but at 47 my ability to be treated as a child when I’ve been treated like this by so many ppl and shut down every chance has been a struggle trying to gather the information I needed to make informed choices for myself. As a whole I believe in Christianity because I’ve seen firsthand how actions from a nonbeliever can affect and ruin the lives of everyone around them so the days of two parents in a loving home putting their children first and loving and honoring each other coming from a place of love and not hate or control is the best way to raise children in a loving and accepting society. Sadly it is hard to do and find in this world of everyone being fake but I still feel like it puts forth a better generation for the generation that comes next. Sorry I’m rambling anyways I do know about apologetics, I know about theology as my father would bring home his books from seminary school as he was studying to be a deacon but I’ll admit since he loved to argue and be right versus to have an actual open discussion I learned way more from his books than him.

It sounds like you are still sorting through things and trying to make your faith your own.

And to be honest, I get having doubts. It is very, very common.

One point about the stuff about Jesus being the Son of God and being born of a virgin and the resurrection of Christ is I like to think about it this way: If God can create the entire universe from nothing, then these things that happen on a tiny little planet are child's play compared to what God can actually do.

But I get the doubts, too. I sometimes think, "How on earth is Jesus going to change the whole universe?" And I just don't know. But I have faith He can do it.

 

[Hyacinth]

It sounds like you are still sorting through things and trying to make your faith your own.

And to be honest, I get having doubts. It is very, very common.

One point about the stuff about Jesus being the Son of God and being born of a virgin and the resurrection of Christ is I like to think about it this way: If God can create the entire universe from nothing, then these things that happen on a tiny little planet are child's play compared to what God can actually do.

But I get the doubts, too. I sometimes think, "How on earth is Jesus going to change the whole universe?" And I just don't know. But I have faith He can do it.

Well when you put it that way it sounds like a no brainer but alas I wouldn’t be me without constantly questioning things. Poor God when I go up to face judgement day, I’ll either be in awe not being able to speak at all or I’ll be sent to hell from asking so many questions and him just wanting and needing me out of his face because I won’t shut up with all the questions I have

 

[QuickTwist]

Well when you put it that way it sounds like a no brainer but alas I wouldn’t be me without constantly questioning things. Poor God when I go up to face judgement day, I’ll either be in awe not being able to speak at all or I’ll be sent to hell from asking so many questions and him just wanting and needing me out of his face because I won’t shut up with all the questions I have

It sounds like you have emotional doubts, not factual doubts. IDK if you have gotten into volitional doubts yet or not.

Pick through some of these and see if anything jumps out to you.

 

[Hyacinth]

It sounds like you have emotional doubts, not factual doubts. IDK if you have gotten into volitional doubts yet or not.

Pick through some of these and see if anything jumps out to you.

Well I had a whole thing typed out but it just disappeared on me so I’ll just leave with this one thing. I don’t like the words “absolute truth” in my mind there is no such thing. We are human and can’t possibly know everything. It’s not realistic. I am into both science and spirituality and imo you can’t have one without the other. I know many scientist like to disprove God but they are simply not open minded enough to consider him. I question everything because I am an intellectually curious Gemini (as most Geminis are) in addition to being an INFJ which only furthers me being a curious type that questions everything. Add that up together and I think most ppl would say “how can she not question everything” it’s a one, two, punch with being intellectually curious and having to feed my mind with anything I can get my hands on or to surround myself with others who share my natural curiousity with versus those who immediately try to shut me down and shut the discussion down. I will question everything. To deny that is to deny who I am as a person. God made me this way and I have to believe he did so for some purpose. I might never learn why but I feel there’s a reason for everyone even if we might not understand during our time here on earth. I may never know until my time on earth is over

 

[QuickTwist]

Well I had a whole thing typed out but it just disappeared on me so I’ll just leave with this one thing. I don’t like the words “absolute truth” in my mind there is no such thing. We are human and can’t possibly know everything. It’s not realistic. I am into both science and spirituality and imo you can’t have one without the other. I know many scientist like to disprove God but they are simply not open minded enough to consider him. I question everything because I am an intellectually curious Gemini (as most Geminis are) in addition to being an INFJ which only furthers me being a curious type that questions everything. Add that up together and I think most ppl would say “how can she not question everything” it’s a one, two, punch with being intellectually curious and having to feed my mind with anything I can get my hands on or to surround myself with others who share my natural curiousity with versus those who immediately try to shut me down and shut the discussion down. I will question everything. To deny that is to deny who I am as a person. God made me this way and I have to believe he did so for some purpose. I might never learn why but I feel there’s a reason for everyone even if we might not understand during our time here on earth. I may never know until my time on earth is over

Reality has to be objective, or everything would be chaotic. There needs to be an anchor to our perceptions (whether our perceptions are true or not is another thing). If "True for you but not for me" is actually true, then we would be very poorly suited to discovering what is true at all, and as such, we would have very little in the way of knowing anything. In other words, either there is an objective world that is real or there is not. If there is an objective world, then even in our psychology, there are rules that our mind functions by. As such, it is not so much a matter of mind as it is a matter of what is real.

 

[Hyacinth]

Reality has to be objective, or everything would be chaotic. There needs to be an anchor to our perceptions (whether our perceptions are true or not is another thing). If "True for you but not for me" is actually true, then we would be very poorly suited to discovering what is true at all, and as such, we would have very little in the way of knowing anything. In other words, either there is an objective world that is real or there is not. If there is an objective world, then even in our psychology, there are rules that our mind functions by. As such, it is not so much a matter of mind as it is a matter of what is real.

I totally agree with this. But there’s so much out there that we as humans have no way of knowing. Now I’m not deluded enough to believe that any aliens out there created us as some kind of science experiment of theirs nor do I agree with a big bang theory as I can easily argue that something had to cause the Big Bang and everything starts from something and if I can’t make sense out of something that doesn’t make sense I’ll never take something at face value just because I was told to by someone but absolute truth is a concept that I don’t or can’t understand. Nothing in life is absolute. To me that is a God like mentality thinking that that person knows it all and doesn’t leave room for having an open mind into other things that we could possibly learn as humans about our lives and the universe outside of ours. To say we know everything and understand everything as such on a specific topic is severely limiting ourselves so no further studies would be done on it but without further studies we stunt ourselves and don’t allow room and space for growth in a subjective space. Yes it leaves things being open for chaos but anyone who has studied quantum physics knows that there’s a lot more out there that is sometimes unexplainable and chaotic that can’t be measured and controlled and while sometimes the chaotic scares ppl who want to control things to make sense out of the world and control their own environment the truth is that the unexplainable can’t be explained and in that truth is what fascinates someone like me’s mind. The more unexplainable and chaotic a subject is the more i am intrigued and wanting to learn, understand and grow more asking myself the questions like well why is that particle reacting the way it does, why did this happen, that happen, and I realise I am bouncing all over the place using concepts from science, philosophy, theology, and religion all at once but I do believe that with every subject out there if we put them all together we will get to a level of thinking outside of what we actually know and the more ppl can come together and learn from each other the more we bounce ideas off of each other coming up with even more off the walls level of thinking and blowing our minds more and more. Think about how earlier ppl used to think the world was flat and how when the first ppl starting talking about how instead it was round…, the point is we are never done learning and growing and the concept of “absolute truth” in my mind tries to stop that from happening by falsely claiming we know everything when we can’t possibly know or understand everything

 

[Hyacinth]

Reality has to be objective, or everything would be chaotic. There needs to be an anchor to our perceptions (whether our perceptions are true or not is another thing). If "True for you but not for me" is actually true, then we would be very poorly suited to discovering what is true at all, and as such, we would have very little in the way of knowing anything. In other words, either there is an objective world that is real or there is not. If there is an objective world, then even in our psychology, there are rules that our mind functions by. As such, it is not so much a matter of mind as it is a matter of what is real.

Now the problem with humans is they take their intellectual curiosity and violate very real moral and ethic boundaries on their quest to learn more. When they start playing God, custom tailoring babies, cloning, using people and loving money as opposed to loving people and using money to help society as a whole then you begin to see the breakdowns of cultures and begin to associate science to playing God. I’m not dumb enough to think it won’t go this way in the future. I know all about greed, corruption, human weakness and fraility over choosing what is good versus self serving and self gratifying and this is a turning point in time when we, as humans, choose what path forward and steps that we are going to take to either help or hurt the future of humanity. That scares some ppl and I get that but not much you can do about it. I remind myself that I am just one person who thinks and goes about life a certain way. I’m not ignorant enough to think that we will choose to go the best path forward, it is my hope, but I also know humans are very weak when it comes to doing what is best for everyone versus their own self interests. Morality and ethics are sometimes thrown out the window when it comes to making profits.

 

[QuickTwist]

I totally agree with this. But there’s so much out there that we as humans have no way of knowing. Now I’m not deluded enough to believe that any aliens out there created us as some kind of science experiment of theirs nor do I agree with a big bang theory as I can easily argue that something had to cause the Big Bang and everything starts from something and if I can’t make sense out of something that doesn’t make sense I’ll never take something at face value just because I was told to by someone but absolute truth is a concept that I don’t or can’t understand. Nothing in life is absolute. To me that is a God like mentality thinking that that person knows it all and doesn’t leave room for having an open mind into other things that we could possibly learn as humans about our lives and the universe outside of ours. To say we know everything and understand everything as such on a specific topic is severely limiting ourselves so no further studies would be done on it but without further studies we stunt ourselves and don’t allow room and space for growth in a subjective space. Yes it leaves things being open for chaos but anyone who has studied quantum physics knows that there’s a lot more out there that is sometimes unexplainable and chaotic that can’t be measured and controlled and while sometimes the chaotic scares ppl who want to control things to make sense out of the world and control their own environment the truth is that the unexplainable can’t be explained and in that truth is what fascinates someone like me’s mind. The more unexplainable and chaotic a subject is the more i am intrigued and wanting to learn, understand and grow more asking myself the questions like well why is that particle reacting the way it does, why did this happen, that happen, and I realise I am bouncing all over the place using concepts from science, philosophy, theology, and religion all at once but I do believe that with every subject out there if we put them all together we will get to a level of thinking outside of what we actually know and the more ppl can come together and learn from each other the more we bounce ideas off of each other coming up with even more off the walls level of thinking and blowing our minds more and more. Think about how earlier ppl used to think the world was flat and how when the first ppl starting talking about how instead it was round…, the point is we are never done learning and growing and the concept of “absolute truth” in my mind tries to stop that from happening by falsely claiming we know everything when we can’t possibly know or understand everything

Absolute Truth exists 100%
Absolute Certainty does not.
Subtle, but significant difference.

Still, we can be more sure of one thing than we are of another thing. And all information is useful in its own right.

You strike me as being exceptionally high in Openness. There is a dynamic of Openness called "Values," which is how much you believe there is a single truth or multiple truths. If you are more like me and think that there is absolutely a core reality waiting to be discovered, then that would put me low on this dynamic of Openness. I don't believe in multiple truths because then things are unintelligible. For me, it's just simple logic. There are no multiple worlds in reality. There is one world, the world we are living in.

 

[Hyacinth]

Absolute Truth exists 100%
Absolute Certainty does not.
Subtle, but significant difference.

Still, we can be more sure of one thing than we are of another thing. And all information is useful in its own right.

You strike me as being exceptionally high in Openness. There is a dynamic of Openness called "Values," which is how much you believe there is a single truth or multiple truths. If you are more like me and think that there is absolutely a core reality waiting to be discovered, then that would put me low on this dynamic of Openness. I don't believe in multiple truths because then things are unintelligible. For me, it's just simple logic. There are no multiple worlds in reality. There is one world, the world we are living in.

Ah gotcha.

 

[QuickTwist]

Now the problem with humans is they take their intellectual curiosity and violate very real moral and ethic boundaries on their quest to learn more. When they start playing God, custom tailoring babies, cloning, using people and loving money as opposed to loving people and using money to help society as a whole then you begin to see the breakdowns of cultures and begin to associate science to playing God. I’m not dumb enough to think it won’t go this way in the future. I know all about greed, corruption, human weakness and fraility over choosing what is good and self serving and self gratifying and this a turning point when we as humans choose what path forward and steps that we are going to take to either help or hurt the future of humanity. That scares some ppl and I get that but not much you can do about it. I remind myself that I am just one person who thinks and goes about life a certain way. I’m not ignorant enough to think that we will choose to go the best path forward, it is my hope, but I also know humans are very weak when it comes to doing what is best for everyone versus their own self interests. Morality and ethics are sometimes thrown out the window when it comes to making profits.

Honestly, I think humanity will just continue to get more polarized until it all blows up like a dormant volcano.

 

[Hyacinth]

Honestly, I think humanity will just continue to get more polarized until it all blows up like a dormant volcano.

Positive thinking I love it. The doomsday scroller. No matter. I’m a moron, I’ll admit, thinking that eventually we can come together and coexist, call it delusional or what you will but as a “Mary Ingles seeing the glass half full happy way of thinking” I get that I aggravate ppl sometimes I’ve been told not every one is rainbows and butterflies and honestly that’s fair but I can’t live my life in fear. My parents constantly did and what you get there is anxious kids so I don’t recommend it for those raising kids. Not fun to be around as a child because everyone is your enemy and out to get you and lord that way of thinking exhausted me. I honestly thought my parents are nuts. Still do. I had all my friends saying that they were religious extremist nutcases who gave them anxiety and so they never came to my house back then because of it so I get it and don’t fault my friends for it or for never coming over because if the shoe was on the other foot I’d had probably done the same thing. Just for me personally, it’s not for me and no way to live.

 

[QuickTwist]

Positive thinking I love it. The doomsday scroller. No matter. I’m a moron, I’ll admit, thinking that eventually we can come together and coexist, call it delusional or what you will but as a “Mary Engles seeing the glass half full happy way of thinking I get I aggravate ppl sometimes” I’ve been told not every one is rainbows and butterflies and honestly that’s fair but I can’t live my life in fear. My parents constantly did it and what you get there is anxious kids so I don’t recommend it for those raising kids. Not fun to be around as a child because everyone is your enemy and out to get you and lord that way of thinking exhausted me. I honestly thought my parents are nuts. Still do. I love them but from far away because they are legit crazy and I had all my friends saying that they were religious over zealous nutcases who gave them anxiety and they didn’t come to my house back then because of it so I get it and don’t fault my friends for it or for never coming over because if the shoe was on the other foot I’d had done the same thing. Just for me personally, it’s not for me and no way to live.

I would just need a reason to think things are going to get better.

 

[Hyacinth]

I would just need a reason to think things are going to get better.

Understandable. How about I use your own reasoning against you and just say have faith. It might not turn out exactly as you want it to unfold and happen but, instead, how God wants it to. That is where we, as humans who love nothing more than to control our environments find the hardest to let go of. But I try to just focus on myself and what I can do and allow God to handle the rest. I can choose love, understanding, acceptance, and compassion. I cannot, however, choose how others perceive the world. The trick is to focus on yourself and what you can control versus the outside world and the perception that it’s somehow spiraling out of control when it’s actually not. Usually that’s just our own overthinking that frankly as INFJs we are terrible with. But with practice I have learned how to re-train my brain away from that type of thinking. (From how I’ve been taught by my upbringing to fear everything to now only really fearing a small number of things. I think most of my fear, anxiety, and worry growing up actually was my parents’ and I absorbed their emotions and made them my own since I was young and impressionable not even realizing or understanding as a young empath that that was what I was doing in my most natural state was absorbing others’ emotions. It wasn’t until I matured that I was able to separate other peoples’ emotions from my own and recognize and spot the difference so I don’t get anxious, afraid, or fearful anymore) generally I don’t really live a life of fear which I guess is why it takes so many people to gang up on me in order to truly silence me before I even actually truly “feel” anything. Not too much gets to me anymore. I don’t try to control people, don’t tend to care if ppl understand me or not although i will say that this platform makes it a heck of a lot easier to have discussions on but fear itself, I don’t tend to have much of. I really only fear one thing, the opinions of my few closest friends. They are the only ones who have the power and ability to hurt me if they wanted to as I need to care deeply for the person before they even have the ability to touch me or my feelings. They won’t hurt me because they care about me but really the fear of people using my love and care for them against me is the only fear that I’ve ever had or experienced as an empath and that’s only from past experiences of those I’ve loved using my love, compassion, and understanding against me as a weapon instead of what it’s designed for, by God (to bring ppl together in harmony, truth, and understanding) so all ppl are seen and heard not just those deemed “worthy” of compassion and God’s love but ALL of God’s children.

 

[QuickTwist]

Understandable. How about I use your own reasoning against you and just say have faith. It might not turn out exactly as you want it to unfold and happen but, instead, how God wants it to. That is where we, as humans who love nothing more than to control our environments find the hardest to let go of. But I try to just focus on myself and what I can do and allow God to handle the rest. I can choose love, understanding, acceptance, and compassion. I cannot, however, choose how others perceive the world. The trick is to focus on yourself and what you can control versus the outside world and the perception that it’s somehow spiraling out of control when it’s actually not. Usually that’s just our own overthinking that frankly as INFJs we are terrible with. But with practice I have learned how to re-train my brain away from that type of thinking. (From how I’ve been taught by my upbringing to fear everything to now only really fearing a small number of things. I think most of my fear, anxiety, and worry growing up actually was my parents’ and I absorbed their emotions and made them my own since I was young and impressionable not even realizing or understanding as a young empath that that was what I was doing in my most natural state was absorbing others’ emotions. It wasn’t until I matured that I was able to separate other peoples’ emotions from my own and recognize and spot the difference so I don’t get anxious, afraid, or fearful anymore) generally I don’t really live a life of fear which I guess is why it takes so many people to gang up on me in order to truly silence me before I even actually truly “feel” anything. Not too much gets to me anymore. I don’t try to control people, don’t tend to care if ppl understand me or not although i will say that this platform makes it a heck of a lot easier to have discussions on but fear itself, I don’t tend to have much of. I really only fear one thing, the opinions of my few closest friends. They are the only ones who have the power and ability to hurt me if they wanted to as I need to care deeply for the person before they even have the ability to touch me or my feelings. They won’t hurt me because they care about me but really the fear of people using my love and care for them against me is the only fear that I’ve ever had or experienced as an empath and that’s only from past experiences of those I’ve loved using my love, compassion, and understanding against me as a weapon instead of what it’s designed for, by God (to bring ppl together in harmony, truth, and understanding) so all ppl are seen and heard not just those deemed “worthy” of compassion and God’s love but ALL of God’s children.

Just want to point out that my belief that things will blow up is not at all based on fear. It's actually just a rational assumption based on seeing how people are behaving now compared to, for example, my childhood.

There is the male vs female war, there is the black vs white war, there is the rich vs poor war, there is the religious vs skeptic war, there is the conservative vs liberal war...

None of these things were THAT big of a deal when I was growing up. Our society is growing increasingly polarized, and I feel bad for people who can't see it.

 

[Hyacinth]

Just want to point out that my belief that things will not blow up is not at all based on fear. It's actually just a rational assumption based on seeing how people are behaving now compared to, for example, my childhood.

There is the male vs female war, there is the black vs white war, there is the rich vs poor war, there is the religious vs skeptic war, there is the conservative vs liberal war...

None of these things were THAT big of a deal when I was growing up. Our society is growing increasingly polarized, and I feel bad for people who can't see it.

No I see it. I believe everyone sees it which in itself instills fear. Not meaning you specifically and sorry if it came across that way. It’s a very polarized world we live in however I choose to dismiss it as such and just focus on what I can control versus what I can’t. In other words I can’t control how others raised their children but I chose to show my own children what love looked like, not only towards our own race, our own mindsets but to challenge my kids to see past themselves to the bigger picture. It worked somewhat but not as much as I had hoped. I find traveling allows the mind to open even more as they experience more cultures, more ethnicities, and vastly different religions and ways of looking at things. Honestly I wish I had had more money when they were younger so that they could see that the trials we faced in our own country was vastly over stated and over dramatized compared to how others living in countries that don’t have it as good as we have it experiences life. Without outside influences guiding our thoughts and decisions we have a very narrow and limited view.

 

[QuickTwist]

No I see it. I believe everyone sees it which in itself instills fear. Not meaning you specifically and sorry if it came across that way. It’s a very polarized world we live in however I choose to dismiss it as such and just focus on what I can control versus what I can’t. In other words I can’t control how others raised their children but I chose to show my own children what love looked like, not only towards our own race, our own mindsets but to challenge my kids to see past themselves to the bigger picture. It worked somewhat but not as much as I had hoped. I find traveling allows the mind to open even more as they experience more cultures, more ethnicities, and vastly different religions and ways of looking at things. Honestly I wish I had had more money when they were younger so that they could see that the trials we faced in our own country was vastly over stated and over dramatized compared to how others living in countries that don’t have it as good as we have it experiences life. Without outside influences guiding our thoughts and decisions we have a very narrow and limited view.

I agree it is not wise to be consumed by it and only focus on what you personally can change. Still, in some sense, I feel a call to warn people, saying, "If things don't change, it will be bad." What gives me this drive is simply having a long-range view of society. Most people are not concerned about such things. They are just living their life one day at a time. But apathy is just as enabling for this sort of thing as anything.