Religion
In reply to the discussion: What goes through your mind when someone says, "I'm a Christian?" [View all]Journeyman
(15,036 posts)I meet many people who so identify and rarely do they question my lifestyle or that of anyone else. The most unhappy, judgmental individual I've met in the past 20 years was an atheist.
I had occasion to meet a number of Episcopalians lately and they were quite inclusive, encouraging all manner of people to attend. They hate lies and illegal wars of aggression. They feed the poor without requiring anything in return. And when told, as I informed them, that someone is uninterested in their religion or faith, they don't withdraw their friendship. I may find cause to alter my opinion in future days, but I'll hold to this opinion for now. It's what I see in the limited involvement I have.
Something I found years ago: there are arseholes and saints in every walk of life. And no matter where they go, people find the type of people they expect to find.
In his poem, "The People, Yes," Carl Sandburg wrote about a traveller entering a new land who comes upon a farmer standing in his field.
The stranger asks him, "What sort of people live here."
And the farmer asks back, "What sort are they where you're from?"
And the stranger tells of a "lowdown, lying, thieving, gossiping, backbiting lot."
To which the farmer replies, "Well, I guess that's about the kind of folks you'll find around here."
Comes another stranger who enters into the same exchange, but he tells of a "decent, hardworking, law-abiding, friendly lot" who live where he's from.
To which the farmer replies, "Well, I guess that's about the kind of folks you'll find around here."
Abe Lincoln said it best, "Most people are about as happy as they set their minds to be."