Coffeeshop Religious
Fun
Alright, I felt the insane urge to bring up religion tonight.
So, although it is a touchy subject for many, I feel that I must express this
before I lose it...
First, the story. I went to one of the local
coffeeshops the other night. The first thing I heard when I came in the door
was a man saying to the clerk lady, "Catholicism is wrong and if you're
Catholic you aren't truly saved." Now, I'm not Catholic. I'm
Non-Denominational. However, I know biggotry when I hear it. But, it wasn't my
debate, so I just stood sipping my coffee and listening to this guy rail
against the woman behind the counter. After a while of listening to the whole
thing, and realizing that the poor lady wasn't able to properly defend herself,
I had no choice but to intercede. I began doing one of the things I'm best
at... I debated him. For every point he tried to make, I had a counter-point.
In the end, I had him repeating previous statements (things people do when they
start to lose an argument) and stuttering. Apparently, it was easy for him to
keep a cool demeanor when tearing down someone without a quick enough mind to
beat him. But I royally hacked him off. Anyway, he left and I had a new friend
in the girl-behind-the-counter and the other Catholic girls who had stopped in
and decided to stick around when they heard the argument.
Now to my real
purpose for writing this. I have been a believer in the Christian way all of my
life. However, I feel that my denomination is not the only right way to worship
God. Christianity itself splits off into the Catholic faith, the Protestant
faiths, and (if you want to get technical) Eastern Orthodox. However, at least
for the first two (I'm not as well versed in the last one), the basic belief is
the same: Jesus is the Son of God who came down and died for our sins... And
according to the New Testament, all that is needed to get into Heaven is to
believe in Jesus and to live like He did to the best of our ability. Now, the
Catholic Church definitely does things that disagree with on a religious basis.
However, I do not believe, and will never believe, that they are going to hell
because they are Catholic. Just as I may not fit in with other Protestant
faiths, but I won't condemn them either. Who am I to decide what religion is
right and which is wrong? Nobody, that's who I am. To avoid being judged for my
religion, I refuse to judge others based upon theirs. I will, however, not be
afraid to tell somebody off for railing someone for their faith, just like the
aforementioned man in the coffeeshop. Don't expect respect if you won't give
it. Ok, I'm done ranting and raving now... Just needed to get that off of my
chest. Peace.
-L33T |
