Arrogance and Stupidity Are Friends of Humans Regardless of Race, Religion, or Otherwise
Posted: Sunday, October 31, 2010
by Teresa Ortiz
Freelance writer/Speaker
I will start by saying I probably should wait until I am not upset to share these thoughts. Nevertheless I forge ahead for fear that if I am to calm down, I might be guilty of letting this slide. And this my friends, must be shared.
This morning I was spending a few minutes checking in on Facebook as a way of connecting with my friends and family. While scanning my wall, I noticed the "status" of one who is close to my heart. She shared a message she heard on a "religious station" by a woman who was warning Christians that they should stay away from acupuncture "for the relief they are feeling could be evil disguised as healing."
In defense of this "woman" I did not hear this message in its entirety so I will share my thoughts carefully. This however, is not the only source of my gripe. It also includes the attitude of many of the those who responded.
In defense of these people, they were given plenty of ammo with which to fire their flames of sarcasm. This however, makes my point.
Arrogance and stupidity are friends of all humans. Generally speaking, liberals accuse conservatives of being intolerant, yet in the same breath, they are intolerant of a conservatives point of view. (Which reminds me of a recent episode of "The View", but I won't go there.)
Most of you know I am a conservative Bible believing Christian, so I will start by commenting on this "Religious Woman".
First of all she does not represent all Christian Leadership. Secondly, if this is her conviction, she has no right to teach this as biblical truth. Thirdly, she better not be taking any kind of medication what so ever--Not even ibuprofen as all medicine "natural" or "chemically engineered" help to reduce pain, and help to bring about wellness outside of waiting for the body to heal itself--Otherwise she would be a hypocrite. Without knowing her, I will not make this judgment. I will assume she does not use any kind of medication at anytime.
This leaves her personal opinion. She is entitled to have it, even to share it. But when it comes to a Biblical mandate against it, she has no claim. Therefore, she should be careful to make this known. Again, to her defense, she may have. But unless we heard her message in its entire context we have no way of knowing for sure.
This brings me to the mocking responses of others. They were being mean-spirited. One response read, "I knew you were the spawn of Satan." This and many other comments do not suggest the "live and let live" mentality I know they preach.
How are we to ever live in a world of peace and respect if Christians are going to be called such names as "stupid, brain-washed, or arrogant? And worse, what about the churches that are burned down by people who oppose their view. All to say they are doing the world a favor. "It's the Christians that are ruining the world", as I have heard several non believers say. How is this peace?
This behavior is just as arrogant, stupid, and hateful as the Christians who burn down an abortion clinic, then say they are doing God a favor.
Arrogance and stupidity have no boundary. It is up to us an individuals to change our thinking. I am a Christian whose convictions run deep and strong. I have been called stupid and dumb and have been told to quit acting like a child and grow up by many people who claim to be tolerant of all people. What these people really mean is they are only tolerant of people who think like them.
But ask anyone who knows me - read any one of my 300 articles and you will find that I have never called anyone names for not believing like me. And yet there are millions of other Christians just like me, just as there are millions of liberals out there who truly practice what they preach.
Until we quit generalizing and lumping (any kind of) groups of people together, there will be no peace. There is a way to remain civil as human beings and still maintain our individual beliefs and convictions. I have non-christian friends who accept me and the faith the comes with me, just as I them. We may not be in united in beliefs, but we do have a good sense of civility and respect.
So what about you, when is the last time you judged or mocked another person? And even more shameful, was it in response to limited information? "Live and let live" is a two way street. If liberals can preach their beliefs and agendas and Christians should deal with it calmly and peacefully, then liberals need to let Christians preach their beliefs and agendas and the liberals should deal with it calmly and peacefully.
Jesus practiced and preached unity among His followers, civility with everyone else - maybe if we all lived like this, this the world would be a better place. Still, there are many things we as humans should be intolerant of; this too would make the world a better place. I'll save this for another rant.
God help me to practice what I preach.
This morning I was spending a few minutes checking in on Facebook as a way of connecting with my friends and family. While scanning my wall, I noticed the "status" of one who is close to my heart. She shared a message she heard on a "religious station" by a woman who was warning Christians that they should stay away from acupuncture "for the relief they are feeling could be evil disguised as healing."
In defense of these people, they were given plenty of ammo with which to fire their flames of sarcasm. This however, makes my point.
Arrogance and stupidity are friends of all humans. Generally speaking, liberals accuse conservatives of being intolerant, yet in the same breath, they are intolerant of a conservatives point of view. (Which reminds me of a recent episode of "The View", but I won't go there.)
Most of you know I am a conservative Bible believing Christian, so I will start by commenting on this "Religious Woman".
First of all she does not represent all Christian Leadership. Secondly, if this is her conviction, she has no right to teach this as biblical truth. Thirdly, she better not be taking any kind of medication what so ever--Not even ibuprofen as all medicine "natural" or "chemically engineered" help to reduce pain, and help to bring about wellness outside of waiting for the body to heal itself--Otherwise she would be a hypocrite. Without knowing her, I will not make this judgment. I will assume she does not use any kind of medication at anytime.
This leaves her personal opinion. She is entitled to have it, even to share it. But when it comes to a Biblical mandate against it, she has no claim. Therefore, she should be careful to make this known. Again, to her defense, she may have. But unless we heard her message in its entire context we have no way of knowing for sure.
This brings me to the mocking responses of others. They were being mean-spirited. One response read, "I knew you were the spawn of Satan." This and many other comments do not suggest the "live and let live" mentality I know they preach.
How are we to ever live in a world of peace and respect if Christians are going to be called such names as "stupid, brain-washed, or arrogant? And worse, what about the churches that are burned down by people who oppose their view. All to say they are doing the world a favor. "It's the Christians that are ruining the world", as I have heard several non believers say. How is this peace?
This behavior is just as arrogant, stupid, and hateful as the Christians who burn down an abortion clinic, then say they are doing God a favor.
Arrogance and stupidity have no boundary. It is up to us an individuals to change our thinking. I am a Christian whose convictions run deep and strong. I have been called stupid and dumb and have been told to quit acting like a child and grow up by many people who claim to be tolerant of all people. What these people really mean is they are only tolerant of people who think like them.
But ask anyone who knows me - read any one of my 300 articles and you will find that I have never called anyone names for not believing like me. And yet there are millions of other Christians just like me, just as there are millions of liberals out there who truly practice what they preach.
Until we quit generalizing and lumping (any kind of) groups of people together, there will be no peace. There is a way to remain civil as human beings and still maintain our individual beliefs and convictions. I have non-christian friends who accept me and the faith the comes with me, just as I them. We may not be in united in beliefs, but we do have a good sense of civility and respect.
So what about you, when is the last time you judged or mocked another person? And even more shameful, was it in response to limited information? "Live and let live" is a two way street. If liberals can preach their beliefs and agendas and Christians should deal with it calmly and peacefully, then liberals need to let Christians preach their beliefs and agendas and the liberals should deal with it calmly and peacefully.
Jesus practiced and preached unity among His followers, civility with everyone else - maybe if we all lived like this, this the world would be a better place. Still, there are many things we as humans should be intolerant of; this too would make the world a better place. I'll save this for another rant.
God help me to practice what I preach.
*** It should be noted that I do not mean to say all Conservatives are Christians/Religious and all Liberals are non-Christians/non-religious. There is a wide scope of everyone in between - It just so happens that this particular situation was between a Conservation Christian and non-religious Liberals. Liberals in this case meaning, there are no absolutes, truth is relative, and live and let live***
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Top-level comments on this article: (10 total)"...and the truth will set you free." Excellent article, and very well said.Hi Danny. Nice to hear from you :-) Thank you for the encouraging words, g-pa
I appreciate your thoughts, Teresa, but I don't know where I could begin to enter this discussion. It seems that your point is that we shouldn't generalize or lump people all into groups, and I agree with that totally. But then you repeatedly refer to 'Liberal' as the opposite of 'Christian', as if the two are mutually exclusive. Where does that leave me?
You get to make a broad (and somewhat offensive) generalization while arguing against making generalizations. Seems like a double standard.Hi Bruce, I thought about that, and that is not what I intended to say, I just didn't know how to say it another way. Also, you know me well enough to know I would not pull a double standard on purpose - I did start by saying that I probably should not write until I wasn't upset, because I feared I may leave something out. Thank you for pointing this out. And actually, you did beat me to the punch because on my way to work, I was thinking that I should have said that there are liberal Christians and conservative liberals . - Also I did in the beginning say conservative and liberal tying to be as broad as I could be because I was trying to include all things - not just religion or politics - am I making sense? Can you see why this was tough for me to put into words to include all people. The Christian v Liberal thing in this article was relevant because these poeple I am refering to are non-religious liberals - hey! you just helped me define what I was trying to say.
Thanks Bruce, and please give me a break, I am a little rusty in writing articles :-) Love and friendship.Yes, I understand and I know you would never say Liberals can't be Christians. I think this is a good example of how each of us can be offensive without trying or even knowing we are being offensive. To me, it seems the line must be drawn between those who are offensive but would apologize if shown that they had been offensive, and those who are offensive and when confronted with it, they refuse to apologize.
We all occasionally make statements from our own perspective that can be seen by others in a different way. When it's explained how it could be offensive, that's where the difference comes in. Some, like you, would apologize and say that's not how it was meant. Others would say, "get over it."
To me, this is what is most upsetting about the current political climate: So many people being offensive, even on issues which they don't understand, but when it is pointed out how what they have said could be taken as insulting, they don't care. Often they are proud of it.
Thank you for apologizing, apology accepted. I've always appreciated you and your writing, and of course I'll continue to do so.Hi Bruce. Thanks for recoginizing I was apologizing though I didn't actually say the words, I am sorry - which I am :-) It is true that it is often hard to recognize if we are being offensive because it is hard to determine how what we say will be interpreted. The other side of this is that we can be offended because we find ourselves defending our position more often than not and it can cause us to be extra sensitive, causing us to lash out before we stop to consider that it is not personal. I think most of us do this at one time or another when what we are passionate about is challenged.
You are right about the current political atmosphere. I also think that another reason we (people as a whole) have communication problems is that each of us use so many terms loosely. And each draw our own lines when it comes to what we think is conservative or liberal. For example, some people think I am way to conservative and closed minded - others think I am way to liberal - There simply is no pleasing everyone. Maybe some of the solution would be for us as writers, to define our use of terms so that our readers know where we are coming from. This way, things are not taken as a personal attack, but can be better understood as the writers point of view. I am going to keep these things in mind and institute them when writing an opinion piece. Peace and blessings :-)
Excellent observations of "tolerance" and intolerance and the double standard. We need to be ready to give an answer for the reason for the hope which is within us with meekness.... thanks for sharing your heart in this powerful piece.Thanks for the encouraging words Marijo, it is always my prayer that I be one who can do this, knowing I do not know everything. :-)
Hi Teresa,
I understand that you are upset. I don't watch a whole lot of anything but my grandson lately. Therefore I can't really have an opinion on this. What I can share with you is my own experience through rumors and name calling is acceptance, prayer and forgivesness. By the way, I know you to be an excellent example of a Christian.
Love, hugs and blessings,
MichelleHi Michelle. How are you doing? You are right, forgiveness, acceptance, and prayer. I appreciate the encouragment, I believe you too are an excellent example of what it means to be a Christian. It's not about pretending to be perfect or knowing it all, it is about admitting when we are wrong, seeking forgiveness and sharing God with others because of our own faith and knowledge. Love, hugs, and blessings right back to you! T
My threshold of tolerance is always severely challenged when people are dogmatic about their beliefs and when they use their religion to justify the infringement of people's basic rights.Hello Jennifer. thanks for commenting. I agree with you. And thanks for bringing out a point about my last statement - some intolerance is healthy when expressed in an intellegent way, but sometimes our emotions get the best of us. no matter what our beliefs are. When people of the same belief are discussing essential issues of that belief, I think a dogmatic approach is okay. it happens all the time within the same cultural/politcal/religious boards. However, when people of opposing views/beliefs - whatever, are having a discussion, this is where I think that giving each other the freedom to speak out minds respectfully should be practiced. As long as the conversation remains productive and people are learning, then keep it going. But if it starts to get out of hand then I say cut it off and just agree to disagree. :-) Thanks again for commenting. Blessings to you! Teresa
Hi Teresa,
Well said! Bravo! God continues to work on my heart, too, to not be arrogant or judgmental. He hung on a cross to save us by his grace, and not by anything we do or say. We are all equal. He has provided us with real brains that work (image of God) and created us to use them. Medicine practiced with Godly integrity is part of God’s blessing to us for physical healing and managing our health. It was part of His plan. The healing we should all be hoping and longing for is the day our bodies are transformed into heavenly ones. This is God’s ultimate healing for us. One day, I will be healed as well. Meanwhile, I will trust in God’s sovereign design, use the gifts that He has already made available to us, and hope and pray that I can help change others while we wait for our ultimate healing.
It was really good to see you all last week!
Take care and God bless,
Dan
Hey Lucy!! So here we are playing phone tag and I have to go on SearchWarp to 'talk' - go figure... lol - Anyway, great article and whether this was penned emotionally or not, I had not a problem reading between the lines - I did not take this as a judgmental read but rather an honest, heartfelt read - It's a hard call and I honestly don't think that as long as people remain humans (huh?) that we will ever truly overcome situations like this - Like yourself, I am a totally conservative Christian woman whose beliefs are firmly grounded yet am often put into positions that make me cringe [ironically from other fellow Christians] - sorta 'do as I say and not as I do mentality' - [From experience] I know issues like this often get hot (lol) and so have learned 'the hard way' to let God handle it - not to say I don't get bothered but He's a much better diplomat than I'll ever be! For me, many of my personal attacks originated with the presidential election where I was wrongly judged while trying 'to fight the good fight' and got in God's way by allowing my emotions to get in the way - What I've since learned - amazingly - is the simplicity of 'letting go and letting God' while staying true to my own convictions which I thank God am seeing those fruits in Laura as she is approaching her teens. And with that, I am sending the Mother of the Bride a warm hug until we speak!!!
Late in reading this, but ... Right On, Sis!!!
Hey Bro, sorry for the delay in responding! Keep growing :-)
Amen sista!!! I just "met" you today! I have only read one other article you wrote and briefly read the "introductions" to your titled articles! I already find you charming, witty, extremely humorous! :) but i also sense your sincerity n honesty n PASSION in your writings!!! Call it spiritual discernment? i think it is! but my soul/spirit bears witness to your opinions so far!! For me its like your hittin' the-nail-on-the-head! and i can relate to exactly what you're sayin'!! No "apologies" are needed... ... ... its a crazy mixed up world we live in?? there's always gonna be extremists one way or the other! I say let Jesus be our standard and let the chips fall where they may... when we stand before God Almighty we will be without excuse! and i pray to hear, "Well done thy good n faithful servant!!!" I pray the same for you Teresa... may God continue to give you the power n grace to carry on in His will... ... ...Hello sista! Your words are timely :-) Nice to "meet" you. Amen and Amen! Thanks for taking the time to read and comment. Stick around there are a lot of great devotionals from other believers that can be found here on SearchWarp. Many blessings to you! Teresa
I am so glad to read this article, Teresa, someone had to say it, and you're brave to do so. FANTASTIC article, and I could not agree with you more. Regardless of what walk of life we're from, our race or beliefs, we should all respect each other.
Thanks so much for sharing,
-SydneyHi Sydney.
Thanks for reading and for the great comment. It's true, nobody should be put down for what they believe. We may not be united in beliefs, but we can be united in common understanding and learning from one another and appreciate each others perspectives.
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