2009.54 Your ${BELIEF_SET} != The Truth
My wife's deceased cousin was a Catholic priest and a scholar. I didn't share his unflagging taste for choucroute any more than his Catholicism, but I really dug the fact that he respected others' beliefs to the point of never imposing his own on them. He had studied theology and would discuss things in an intelligent and respectful manner. He was happy to not discuss them too, as he was well-rounded enough to have a lot more to say than just a belief set or an agenda to sell one. I loved that about him, among other things.
René had a full white beard, wore a bérêt (and looked right in it) and had thick Mr. Magoo glasses on his nose at all times. He really was nearly legally blind, but that didn't stop him from driving his faithful 2CV.
He lived in the Voges, a region that, like my native Minnesota, has snow and cold in the winter and uncomfortable heat in the summer, leaving only fall and spring as tolerable visiting seasons. I recall René driving us around in that 2CV with his 10% vision and on those narrow, snow covered mountain roads, I literally thought "I hope his faith can cover us too in this situation."
And it did seem to do so. Still, I beg of those who are convinced they know the one Truth to keep it to themselves. Continually shoving your belief set in people's faces really shows a lack of respect in that it means you don't think their own set is valid. What you believe is what you believe.
You know the great thing about Twitter, the absolute killer part of it? You can silence anyone you don't want to hear from. I love that about IRC, to just /ignore someone who repeatedly gets on your nerves. In real life, this is awfully hard to do. I've calmly said that I'd prefer not to discuss faith, quoting my mother who said "religion is in the heart".
Having a fixed set of answers, especially those you learned from an indoctrination process rather than personal experience, may be nice for some people. I don't know if there is an all-powerful being and my ideas aren't totally fixed in that realm. I just don't want to be force fed the party line, whether it's religion, wine, software or politics.
