Not offensive by a digit. So here is the deal, I've been thinking for a while about limits, personal limits. Meaning that, even thought someone might be "wrong" in our eyes, in our opinion, the idea of correcting them, of showing them the way sort of speak, is as productive as watering rocks, and as ugly as stomping on lilys.
In all honesty not all beliefs are pretty flowers, but to the ones who believe in them, they might be so. I guess, that is why I'm bothered by this whole thing, because I'm attempting to flex some empathetic muscles that need a little more workout.
You could say there are belief system that are a little fringe, but benign. They will exist in the outskirts of society, and enjoy all the privileges of being small enough to go unnoticed. I've met some interesting characters in my life, I remember meeting someone who believed in the power of crystals. A crystal to heal, a crystal to forgive, granted they were beautiful, but I was never convinced they had powers at all.
Did it matter? Was it important for me to make my case? I'm asking because I think that at times when people get confrontational about these things they believe that if they effectively destroy someone else's belief system, they've achieved a noble victory. Who won? I ask, and some high horser will yell with a trolly smile - "REASON".
I'm fully aware of the belief systems that can be cancerous to society. A death cult is nothing to smile about, and as much as we might think they exist only in films, that is probably very false. However, even there, even when engaging with people with radical beliefs. What is the right approach to take? To insult, to attack, to judge, or maybe is it to ask questions.
And that is where I'm going with this unusual post, because I'm attempting to grasp where the battle should be held, The battle of ideas. Public debates? Forums? Blogs? Where? - I'm being serious, I would like to know how do we achieve balance.
I'm going to give this whole thing some more thought, It might be years before I find an answer that feels right. Or then again, I might never find it, and that is the whole point. Is truth really that elusive?
