Let's Hug it Out, Dawg

This is (most likely) the last time I'm going to defend my writing.

So, I received a comment on my last post and I have to admit that it got me a little fired up.  To me, this person clearly misunderstood the meaning of what I wrote and took it the wrong way, even going so far as to assume I was against non-religious people and in favor of God hating “fags.”  As much as I tried to be clear in my intentions, it just goes to show that, once again, some people don’t get what I’m saying.  Now, I said some people.  Did you catch that?  I’m not talking about everyone.  Just some. 

First of all, the only reason why I'm responding to this is because I don't want other people thinking that I think this way.  While I'm pretty sure this one person was just completely wrong in his assessment of my post, it’s possible that other people might feel the same way as this person did but don’t want to say anything.  I'm not so much responding to this stranger but to people that might read me regularly and might have misunderstood in the same way this person did.  Maybe you’ve gotten to know me and that post might have thrown you for a loop and now you’re not so sure about me.  Well, because I’d hate to lose readers, let me clarify for the readers who do not comment.

I am not anti-atheism.  As I clearly wrote in my last post, some of the coolest people I know are atheists.  I was hoping by mentioning this, I would convey that I’m not coming from a bad place and that I’m not one of these uppity Christians who can’t handle any other way of thinking besides what comes straight out of the Bible.  I’m not like that at all but I guess I didn’t get that across very well, at least for that one person.  I don’t care if you have a religion or do not have a religion.  As long as you’re a good person and can tell a wicked awesome fart joke, you’re good in my bloody book.  I have never bashed anyone’s beliefs because I don’t want anyone to bash mine.  I have no right to tell anyone how to live because I don’t want others to do that to me and plus, I’m not the ruler of anyone’s life and nor do I think I’m qualified to be one.  I’m just some overweight twenty-something who has very little significance in this world. 

There are two reasons why I’ve never tried to force my opinion on religion:

A) The only religion that I’ve ever really had a problem with was my own!  There’s a ton of corruption in Christianity and frankly, although I don’t know much about other religions, there’s probably corruption in just about every other religion as well.  And that corruption isn’t because of God or Allah or whoever, it’s because of people.  A lot of the Christians I grew up with engaged in underage drinking and premarital sex.  Yet, they had their gin-soaked butts in those pews every Sunday.  And that was about the extent of their Christianity.  While I always kept my mouth shut, I’ve kept my eyes wide open and I saw what they did there.  So, no one need point out the holes in Christianity or the fact that most Christians are hypocrites because I know this.  But, really, that’s kind of a safe accusation considering we are all hypocrites, no matter what our beliefs are.

B) I have my own personal struggles with faith and religion that I have discussed here before.  There are times when I question God’s motives and even His existence and there are times when I feel my “life” doesn’t mesh very well with Christianity.  There are times when I want to just give up on God.  I’ll admit it.  Most Christians might not be so forthcoming with their wavering faith but it’s probably more common than you’d think.  Considering my own wobbly dedication to Christ, I definitely have no business putting down other people’s alliances, or lack thereof.

Despite being a Christian, I’ve had people who are even more Christian than I am try to shove their beliefs down my throat and that’s a hard cross to swallow.  So, in some ways I can understand how some non-religious people feel when it comes to others who try to jackhammer their beliefs into them.  And that is why I try never to do that myself.

The last entry that I wrote was supposed to be sarcastic and abrasive and tongue-in-cheek.  It was not meant to be offensive.  And when you really break it down, the whole point of the post was me making fun of the different types of people who use the very worn out term zombie Jesus.  Think about it.  I talked about how I was more offended at someone’s lame attempt to be funny rather than someone disrespecting Jesus.  As a Christian, you’d expect me to get more riled up over someone slamming my savior but I was more ticked off over bad humor.  I mean, come on.  I hoped that by flipping the situation around I’d create some irony and, hopefully, some comedy.  I guess that fell flat on its face.  I was coming from a place of humor, not hostility.  I’m not some uptight Bible beater.  I can laugh at religion, too.

It just goes back to what I wrote in Babel.  I try to write and I try to explain as I write but no matter how much I try, it’s inevitable that some people won’t get it.  You catch that?  Some people won’t get.  I’m not saying no one understands me.  I believe that some people do.  I don’t know.  Maybe my writing was so dry and subtle that it went right over some people’s heads or maybe it was so bad that the meaning got lost in my corny one-liners.  If I’m guilty of anything, I would say it was bad writing and bad execution.  And the only reason why I’m writing this is because I now feel I have to defend my character.  I have always prided myself in being an open-minded individual, especially coming from such a closed-minded Christian town.  I have never judged anyone based on race, religion, sex or sexual preference because I have seen people who do judge others based on those qualities and I’ve seen people who have been discriminated against because of those qualities.  And I’d never want to hurt anyone for something they cannot help or change.  I do judge people, however, based on their like or dislike for horror movies.  I'm kidding.  That's me trying to be funny again.  And this will blow your mind:  I had a good guy friend in high school who came out as gay to me.  I was the first guy he came out to, and the second person overall, because he knew I wouldn’t reject him.  A few years later, he revealed that he was agnostic.  A Godless homosexual?  That's about as bad as you can get.  And yet we still keep in touch.

I will admit there might have been a slightly soft jab at people who like to piss all over religion by saying intentionally offensive things like zombie Jesus.  Once again, not everyone who uses the term zombie Jesus is trying to be offensive.  In my last post, I briefly went over the three types of people who do.  I will do it again:

A) Those who just think it’s funny.

B) Those who think they are being controversial.

C) Those who just want to be a-holes.

If you come from camps A and/ or B, I don’t have a problem with that.  If you are from camp C, then yeah, I have a problem with that.  And it’s very tricky because I believe in free speech but at the same time I think there are situations when you should just keep your mouth shut.  I think when it comes to tough topics that could offend someone, it should be a judgment call.  If you think people can handle it and you aren’t outright being malicious, then let it fly but when you are saying things to intentionally hurt someone, then that’s not cool.  It's all about having manners and just being polite. 

So yes, this is the last time I’m going to defend my writing and myself because not everyone is going to agree with my opinions and that’s totally fine.  If you understand where I am coming from and you agree with me, then that's great!  If you understand where I am coming from and you disagree with me, then that's okay as well because not everyone thinks the same way.  If you don't understand where I am coming from and disagree with me, then I shouldn't get upset about it because I can only be so clear in what I'm trying to convey.  There are some people you just can't reach.  I'm just going to try to focus on the ones I can.

So, just to be absolutely clear, I do not discriminate against anyone because of what they may or may not believe.  I dislike everyone equally.

Besides, I'd be much more likely to trust an atheist over one of those wacky Scientologists any day!

What, too soon?