In Defense Of...The Religious

Occasionally it's time to get serious here on the bus, and there is a certain sentiment among what I believe is a very LOUD minority of individuals who have caused this driver to pull over for a few minutes and pull out the soap box again. You shouldn't assume that I'm referring to any specific group or class of people. I'm not. I say minority because I truly believe that the majority of people - in America, anyway - would agree with my viewpoint on this matter. This minority, however unfortunately, gets a lot of attention.

This group I refer to believes religion - like the rest of the world - is supposed to progress and evolve with the ever-decreasing standards that the world is sinking to rather than figure out how to progressively, creatively, and LOUDLY combat said influences. If there is a religious person who tries to keep the door shut on practices or ideals which they view as potentially damaging to themselves and society then they are called "closed-minded." Lo and behold, those who do most of the finger-pointing are not religious.

The subject of their argument is a valid topic, but their target is not. The sights of the irreligious should not be set on the religious; rather, the target of narrow-mindedness should be the irreligious themselves.

Religious people are open-minded. They don't need proof. They have believing blood. They believe that they can become something better than they are right now - that God actually wants them to - and let that belief help dictate the decisions they make. They have lofty goals and make great sacrifices to achieve them. They engage in daily and weekly activities to help them and others grow closer toward those goals. They are disciplined. Many religious people are so open-minded and so believing that they will even choose to take a stand against various immoral actions or abstain from certain activities because they know those things would only impede their progress. The irreligious often confuse this type of refusal with being closed-minded when in fact it is their own closed-mindedness that cannot comprehend such action.

The irreligious cannot comprehend the idea of belief without sight. They need proof. They are seekers of immediate pleasure. They don't realize that by only living for the here and now they are actually not going to enjoy life as much here and now. They believe that they can prove their open-mindedness by partaking of everything and not rejecting anything, while not realizing that by so doing they are accepting nothing.

(Step down. Pick up box. Put back on bus. Sit down. Keep driving.)

I'm sure that won't be the last time I'll have to pull over. Watch for more installments of "In Defense of" in the future. In the mean time, don't stop doing what's right, and don't be afraid to talk LOUDLY!