Society & Politics

Coexisting With Other Religions

Here's a slightly controversial take I never thought I would be writing: how does one coexist peacefully with those of differing religions? To me this doesn't seem like a very complicated topic, but I've noticed that a lot of people just don't understand that this is possible. So let's here this from the pretty much unbiased side of an agnostic, how do we coexist with other religions?



ag·nos·tic
aɡˈnästik/
noun
1. a person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God or of anything beyond material phenomena; a person who claims neither faith nor disbelief in God.


1.) Be accepting.


If someone can't eat a certain food because of their religion, don't knowingly offer them that food or get offended when they don't eat what you made. If someone offers to pray for you or a sick/hurt/struggling family member, don't tell them that praying will do nothing. If someone tells you that they don't celebrate Christian holidays, don't try and force them to see your side as to why they should celebrate Christian holidays. No matter what religion you are, you need to accept other people, because you can't change them and you're not a very good person if you try to. This brings me into my next point,


2.) Don't force your religion down anyone's throat.


I understand that you're a Christian, but I will not convert to your side simply because you're showing me the truths of the bible. I understand that you're an athiest, but I will not believe that there is absolutely no possible way for their to be a higher power in the vast space that we call our universe. I believe in science and reason, but at the same time I think that magic and spirit is a very possible idea. These ideas will not change because you insist that myself or anyone else is wrong, and I will not insist that you or anyone else is wrong until you start trying to shove your opinions down my throat. Imagine if someone tried to impose upon your beliefs and change your thoughts. You wouldn't be too happy to have that happen, so you shouldn't be doing that to anyone else.


3.) Expand your knowledge on other religions.


This doesn't mean that you need to go out and study the sacred text of every religion known to man, but you should try to pick up a few key point of as many religions as you can. This will allow you to be understanding of the traditions and beliefs of everyone you meet, and studying religions can actually be pretty interesting. I had to suffer through a year of human geography, and it was so dull. My teacher taught us about the religious wars and such, but he never went into detail of the stories and legends of each religion. I looked a few up on my own and found out that I enjoy studying those topics and I'm hoping I can educate myself on as many divere cultures as I can before I die.


4.) Don't buy into rumors or stereotypes.


Some of the stereotypes going around about cetain religions are just outrageous. I met a girl who thought that since I was agnostic it could only mean I was satanic. Don't ask me how she came up with this idea considering what agnosticism actually is, but maybe she heard a big long name that didn't correlate to her own religion so she assumed mine was the opposite of hers. However this happened, it was completely stupid. If you hear stories going around about a religion, don't eat it up like a buffet. Instead, try to do step number 3 and look up that reliigion and the story itself to see if it's true or not. You could have the wrong idea about someone simply because you misunderstood their religion, who knows?


5.) Just don't be an asshole about someone else's religion.


If your friend's Christian family wants you to spend Easter with them, but you're an athiest, do you decline? If you honestly believe that you won't enjoy yourself, then by all means tell them no. But celebrating a holiday with someone else won't make you a whole new person. I see religious holidays as a way to connect with your spirituality and with your family/friends as well. I would be so touched to be invited into the warmth of a family during one of their holiday celebrations. I see it as a heartfelt way of connecting to eachother. You can politely decline an invitation, but you don't need to wave it in the person's face that it's because their religious holiday is stupid or makes no sense. That's so incredibly rude, and by doing that you're not only being unecessarily insulting, but it just makes you a straight up jerk. Don't be a jerk. This relates to number 2, don't shove your religion down other people's throats. As well as that, you also shouldn't put their religion down. I've heard arguments like "Oh, your bible has a talking snake in it, how can you believe any of it?" or "You must live a sad life if you really don't believe in a higher power." It may seem logical to change someone in your mind, but in everyone else's eyes it just makes you a major douche. No one wants to be a major douche.



I won't go into some long speech about respecting eachother and loving everyone because we're all so beautiful, because that's not true at all and it's impossible to expect so many people to be happy and peaceful. So instead, I leave you with these tips on how to respectfully approach the idea of religion, but whether you follow them or not is on you.


Coexisting With Other Religions


Coexisting With Other Religions
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