Deep Thought Thursday ~ Just Be

The other day I watched a documentary by Morgan Spurlock called "Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?" He's the guy that directed the documentary "Supersize Me" and was the producer of the documentary "What Would Jesus Buy?" He also did a short series called "30 Days" which lasted only eight episodes but I haven't seen those yet. But today's post isn't about Morgan even though he is worth talking about later on down the road.




I don't want to spoil the "Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden" documentary for you but there is an important point that came up in that film. As Morgan traveled to places like Morocco, Israel, Egypt, and Afghanistan in search of Osama he learned that the people of these countries are just like anyone else. They get up, they go to work, they spend time with their families, and they watch TV. They laugh, they love, they live. Not everyone is involved in Al-Qaeda or terrorism, even though that's what the news media seems to want everyone to think.

One thing the news media is infamous for is only showing the extremists of a particular group. Last Monday I talked about an extremist group that thinks they are representatives of Jesus Christ and the church even though their ideas and actions are many times the opposite of Jesus's teachings and actions. This group has received a lot of media coverage. You can read that blog here if you haven't already. It's the same thing that happens with media coverage in the Middle East, they only show the extremists, the people in the streets with anti-American signs. The media doesn't come right out and say it, but they twist words and ideas to try to make people think "Here is this group of people, this is what they do, this is why we should hate anyone who refers to themselves as belonging to this group." They do it subliminally in a way. I can't say that all the news media outlets are like this because then I would be stereotyping them. There is a good movie called "Mad City" and it stars Dustin Hoffman and John Travolta. This film is a good example of how the news media can get out of control by manipulating stories for the sake of ratings.

So many of these extremist groups tend to get violent. Not always physically violent, but violent in their words as well. Eboo Patel, the executive director of Interfaith Youth Core once said, "The violent people of all religions belong to one religion, the religion of violence." By the way, Eboo is one of the coolest names I've ever heard.

I've said before that I do not promote universalism which is basically a mish-mash of all faiths and religions into one uneven clump, but I do promote getting along with people of other faiths and religions without conflict. I also don't believe in making people into projects. What I mean by that is acting like you are befriending someone just to try and convince them to believe what you believe. That is so wrong, it is not true friendship. I just want to live my life by trying to follow Jesus's teachings and if anyone asks why I live my life the way I do I will share that with them and if that interests them and they want to experience and explore that, then great!

It was St. Francis of Assisi who said, "Preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words." When I hear that it reminds me to just be myself instead of trying to convince people to belive what I believe. Too many people try to practice their faith or religion as if it's some kind of chore and they have to do this and they have to do that. I just want to say stop doing and just be. Live your life and take what you believe and just be who you are with that. Don't try to be someone you're not because people will see how fake you are. Don't pretend to be someone's friend, just be a friend. Don't pretend to love, just love, unconditionally, regardless of what others believe. Don't pretend to be perfect, just be imperfect, make mistakes, have doubts, ask questions.

I want to end this post with this statement: If we are to achieve world peace it will not come about because everyone believes the same thing, it will come about because we will all agree to disagree with each other. Unfortunately we will never see world peace because there will always be those who disagree with this statement.

Deep Thought Thursday ~ Don't Be So Pushy!

I've always enjoyed "Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey" on the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live. One of my favorite Jack Handey thoughts was "If you ever drop your keys into a river of molten lava, let'em go, because, man, they're gone." So I've decided to title Thursdays "Deep Thought Thursdays". Today's subject can sometimes be a little touchy, or rather pushy.

"Don't push your religion on me!" Chances are you've said this phrase to someone, had it said to you, or you've heard someone say to someone else. It doesn't matter who you are, we all have our beliefs. I don't consider myself to be a religious person. I believe in God and I try to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ.

I guess you could call me a Christian but I try not to use that term. Too many people who refer to themselves as such do not reflect Christ in any way. Mohandas Gandhi once said "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." Another great thinker and teacher, Rob Bell, once said "Christian is a great noun, but a horrible adjective." I find this to be so true. The word Christian is slapped on so many things like music, books, and even breath mints. I've even heard there is a Christian office supply store somewhere here in the US. It boggles the mind! I'm not trying to tell people not to call themselves Christians though, I have no problem with that.

I have two reasons why I don't call myself a Christian. One, that term is too vague. When I tell someone I'm a Christian I feel like I have to explain what kind I am. Two, I don't deserve to be called one because I am not always like Christ. I'd rather refer to myself as a follower of Christ. Like I said earlier, I "try" to follow the teachings of Jesus. I don't always suceed and I sometimes fail at trying to be Christ-like. I guess what it boils down to is that I believe God cares about what is in our hearts rather than the terminology we use to describe our worldview.

Well, this train has gone way off the tracks. But I'll get back on track now and get to the point I was originally trying to make. We were talking about people pushing their religion and beliefs on others. I totally agree that this is wrong, and what was doing just now was sharing my beliefs I was not pushing my beliefs on you just now in the last few paragraphs. There's a difference between pushing and sharing. No one is holding a gun to your head and making you read this and if there is then that's really weird and screwed up.

But why do people feel the need to be pushy and try to make other people believe the same things they do? Perhaps it's because that person has found something that works and makes them feel fulfilled and they want to share it with others so badly that they become aggressive and won't stop badgering people about it. It's almost like someone reads a newspaper article that they really enjoy and they want everyone else to enjoy it so they start shoving the newspaper into people's faces yelling "READ IT! READ IT! IT'S GREAT! YOU MUST READ IT! I WON'T STOP UNTIL YOU DO!" That's just crazy.

I'm not just talking about religious fanatics here though. I'm talking about people in general. I've seen this behavior in other areas as well. Throughout my teens, 20's, and now into my early 30's I've had various people say to me "We've got to get you drunk." Now I don't mind a drink or two now and then but I'm just not into getting drunk. I've been there before and I don't really enjoy it when the room starts to turn at a 45º angle as I'm walking. But there are a few people out there, probably more than that, who make it their goal every weekend to get drunk, plastered, intoxicated, hopped-up, smashed, sloshed, (insert your own slang term here), etc. They think it's great and they want to share that with others. They've found something that they believe is fulfilling in their life. Then they push a bottle in your face yelling "DRINK THIS! DRINK THIS! IT'S GREAT! YOU MUST DRINK IT! I WON'T STOP UNTIL YOU DO!" Sounds a little like a religious fanatic doesn't it? So the next time someone says to me "We've gotta get you drunk", I'll just reply, "Don't push your religion on me".

I'm not trying to single out people who drink, I was just using that as an example. It happens with many things like food, music, movies, books, sports, etc. Well, this post has gone on long enough. Come back tomorrow when I'll reveal the fifth and final theme of the week. This is Dan, signing off.....NOW GET OFF MY PORCH!!