I just got back from Utah Pride, which was the gay pride parade and festival they hold each year in Salt Lake City. It was an interesting experience. My favorite part was the protesters. For the thousands of people that were at the festival, there was only 2 protesters. They held up wonderful signs like, "Homo sex is sinful" and "Homosexual churches are devilish". The shouted out, "Repent now or burn in hell". What was funny as hell was that they had 6 cops standing by in case anything happened for just the two of them. A group gathered after awhile and I watched them shout back and forth. I heard people yell, "God loves everybody" probably a thousand times.
I learned a lot from watching about the nature of religion and the susceptibility of human beings to emotional issues. Only 2 people with signs were able to stir up a crowd of a hundred and some were there for hours yelling out heated arguments to those protesters. At first, I was anxious to go mention to those protesters how they were not resting on the Sabbath, which was a sin in the Bible. But as I got closer and I could see into their eyes, I realized that those people were gone to the world. There was no emotion there whatsoever, even though they were being directly challenged for what they believe and accused of clear hypocrisies. I realized that it wasn't worth it because all that mattered to them, were their own beliefs. They didn't care about themselves or the people around them, only in the unyielding conviction behind their rants. If anything, it was clear that they fed off the anger of the crowd and accepted it as victory.
And I realized there wasn't all that much difference between both sides. The festival side (a mixture of gay, bi, and heterosexual people) was trying to incite some sort of response from the protesters, and the protesters seemed to just be reveling in the victory of getting a response from the crowd. Both sides had their own beliefs, and both sides believed the other side was wrong. And yet, I couldn't help but marvel at how the only difference between the two sides, was how they came to hold their beliefs. Ultimately, the only difference between a gay basher and a gay man is when and where they were born. Even if the gay man was born gay, it was a factor of his genetics and hormones, and thus a simple product of when and where.,
I think all these religious arguments have actually helped me to understand what was really meant by "judge not ye be judged". Who we are isn't determined by our beliefs, but the experiences that lead us to choose those beliefs. There isn't any sense in judging each other for what we believe, because the sum of the things we have chosen to believe come from experiences outside of our control. For example, whether you are a Muslim or a Christian could be as simple as what part of the world you were born in.
I'll talk about some of my other experiences later, but I thought I would share that one and hear what you guys think. I know it sounds incredibly simple and obvious, but it demolishes me.
I learned a lot from watching about the nature of religion and the susceptibility of human beings to emotional issues. Only 2 people with signs were able to stir up a crowd of a hundred and some were there for hours yelling out heated arguments to those protesters. At first, I was anxious to go mention to those protesters how they were not resting on the Sabbath, which was a sin in the Bible. But as I got closer and I could see into their eyes, I realized that those people were gone to the world. There was no emotion there whatsoever, even though they were being directly challenged for what they believe and accused of clear hypocrisies. I realized that it wasn't worth it because all that mattered to them, were their own beliefs. They didn't care about themselves or the people around them, only in the unyielding conviction behind their rants. If anything, it was clear that they fed off the anger of the crowd and accepted it as victory.
And I realized there wasn't all that much difference between both sides. The festival side (a mixture of gay, bi, and heterosexual people) was trying to incite some sort of response from the protesters, and the protesters seemed to just be reveling in the victory of getting a response from the crowd. Both sides had their own beliefs, and both sides believed the other side was wrong. And yet, I couldn't help but marvel at how the only difference between the two sides, was how they came to hold their beliefs. Ultimately, the only difference between a gay basher and a gay man is when and where they were born. Even if the gay man was born gay, it was a factor of his genetics and hormones, and thus a simple product of when and where.,
I think all these religious arguments have actually helped me to understand what was really meant by "judge not ye be judged". Who we are isn't determined by our beliefs, but the experiences that lead us to choose those beliefs. There isn't any sense in judging each other for what we believe, because the sum of the things we have chosen to believe come from experiences outside of our control. For example, whether you are a Muslim or a Christian could be as simple as what part of the world you were born in.
I'll talk about some of my other experiences later, but I thought I would share that one and hear what you guys think. I know it sounds incredibly simple and obvious, but it demolishes me.
Saddens me about the world.