Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Talking about God is cool

Ever since I can last remember I have always been taught that the two things you never talk about are religion and politics. Over the past few weeks and even months I have had many encounters with people where the topic of God or religion came up. The person on the other end of the conversation seemed pleasantly surprised and even shocked that I would bring up such a thing. It feels as if there are many people out there that do not talk about God or their beliefs because they feel it is not okay or socially unacceptable.

If you pay attention to the news in our country you will see a strong fascination with things like "sexting" or scandalous marriages. We often learn about corporate greed, horrendous crimes and drug abuse/addiction by famous cultural figures through the news. With the current divorce rate in our country around 50% one cannot help but at least think about the possibility that we as a nation are doing some things wrong. As we have fallen to consumerism we have lost site of who we are as a people and a country and what we stand for.

Today's society has given us a need to "fit in" and be socially accepted. This society has clued us to the fact that talking about faith and religion are not okay unless you are "bible beater" or a "Jesus Hustler". In fact it is so socially unacceptable to talk about these things that other people are immediately turned off to the conversation, shut their ears and walk away.

I have been thinking and praying alot lately about this idea of how "talking about God is cool". In my opinion it is actually the coolest thing to talk about yet so many people stay quiet on this front. With the many social media outlets available to us today, there has never been a better opportunity to share thoughts and ideas. There is so much "conversation" taking place online at every moment of the day. People share where they eat, who they are hanging with, what has their attention at any given moment or the concert they just showed up at. But why aren't we sharing what we believe in or don't believe in?

This idea of "talking about God is cool" is not just for Christians but for everyone. No where in this blog did I say that we should only talk about how great God is. No where did I mention that we can only talk about my God or your God. I actually believe that it is beneficial to our society for everyone to talk about all faiths and religions, in a civilized and respectful way with an open mind and heart. Conversations about anything important are always fruitful and will always create learning to anyone involved. As a Christ follower I am always open to learning about what other people believe. If someone is truly passionate about something different than me, I want to know what it is, why they believe the way they do so that I can learn and understand. If there is information out there that you are unaware of, don't you want to know about it?

“The greatest ignorance is to reject something you know nothing about”

When two or more people engage in an intelligent conversation without intentions of changing the other's opinion but rather with the mindset that they could actually learn something, great things happen. You see so many conversations about religion are about convincing, changing or saving and rather about teaching and learning from one another. People will learn on their own and will make their own decisions about what they believe or don't believe. They will gather information and form opinions on their own time, when the time is right. No matter what you believe, knowing how and why other people believe differently will only help you understand your beliefs more or even form new beliefs.

“The true spirit of conversation consists in building on another man's observation, not overturning it”~ Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton

Talking about God is cool! It's actually the coolest thing to talk about.

Just Sayin'
-EC

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