Politics/religion is like Alice in Wonderland
They can keep circling downwards
Until you get into very emotionally charged
And hostile explanations
They get more and more extreme
Much as going too deep in most subjects
Leads to disturbing conclusions
There is only one way that a political/religious discussion
With someone who doesn’t agree with you ends
It is in anger and moral outrage
Like going into a non-sensical and frightening parallel world
So it often goes like this
When you research another’s beliefs you disagree with
Just like people communicating online
It descends into name calling, stalking, and harassment
So it does not go well to discuss these kind of things
With people you disagree with
Having definite political and religious views are important
For moral, social, and psychological reasons
I have never tried to change someone’s mind in the 21st century
I remember as a kid debating other people
About religion and politics
But it never ended well
I haver never been good at debate
And I have realized early on it is helpful
To doubt yourself sometimes
But changing your mind
Because someone else has a better argument
Is a bad idea because it does not mean
They have a more moral or logical point of view
Some people are just better
At communicating their ideas than others
The problem with trying to avoid
Talking about religion and politics
Is that all roads lead to it today
People have nothing else on their minds
And these are the most important things to most people
People tend to assume they are always right
And if everyone else were logical and objective
They would come to the very same conclusions
They think people thinking otherwise
Are immoral, deluded, stupid, or some conspiracy explains it
Most people cannot accept that people have
Different kinds of moral systems
Because there are different ways of seeing life
They cannot admit they have doubts or compromise
Because they see this as a sign of weakness
Even babies do not start with a clean slate morally
People will always disagree on the most important issues
Our ideological divide even in America
Spans hundreds of years now
Just like 1/4 of the population votes one way
1/4 votes the opposite
And the other 1/2 wants nothing to do with it
In the past we have had frontiers in America
And lower population density
And fewer people lived in large cities
Many of the problems we face today
Have been around in large cities for a very long time
In much of Central Asian and Middle Eastern history
The same local leaders stayed in power
Across multiple changes in empires
In much of Chinese history
Their culture and ethnicity was very uniform
In Europe there were many wars
Between different factions of Christianity
Once atheism gained traction in the early 19th century
The divide became more between Christianity and atheism
We will always have both unity and division
As those things that unite also divide
And those things that divide also unite
Because there has to be something to unite around
Which usually excludes someone
So maybe frontiers are good and can
Allow people to start over again
Although the American example is bad
Because someone already lived in these “frontiers”
Christianity can be a better frontier today
If we had a change in our paradigm
Where we saw the spiritual
As being as real and immediate
As the physical world
The early Church and even the disciples themselves
Lived in very diverse situations
But they were able to overcome and survive despite that
This was possible because of the work of the Holy Spirit
But the Holy Spirit does not force Christians to obey ever
There will always be multiple groups with different opinions
We need to as a Church focus on the how
As we already agree on the Who and somewhat on the what
God controls the future of His Church
So we must wait on Him and follow His will
We will continue to screw things up
As most the patriarchs and apostles did as well
But maybe we can learn from these mistakes
Regardless God will continue to do the bulk of the work
And work with us despite our stubbornness
They can keep circling downwards
Until you get into very emotionally charged
And hostile explanations
They get more and more extreme
Much as going too deep in most subjects
Leads to disturbing conclusions
There is only one way that a political/religious discussion
With someone who doesn’t agree with you ends
It is in anger and moral outrage
Like going into a non-sensical and frightening parallel world
So it often goes like this
When you research another’s beliefs you disagree with
Just like people communicating online
It descends into name calling, stalking, and harassment
So it does not go well to discuss these kind of things
With people you disagree with
Having definite political and religious views are important
For moral, social, and psychological reasons
I have never tried to change someone’s mind in the 21st century
I remember as a kid debating other people
About religion and politics
But it never ended well
I haver never been good at debate
And I have realized early on it is helpful
To doubt yourself sometimes
But changing your mind
Because someone else has a better argument
Is a bad idea because it does not mean
They have a more moral or logical point of view
Some people are just better
At communicating their ideas than others
The problem with trying to avoid
Talking about religion and politics
Is that all roads lead to it today
People have nothing else on their minds
And these are the most important things to most people
People tend to assume they are always right
And if everyone else were logical and objective
They would come to the very same conclusions
They think people thinking otherwise
Are immoral, deluded, stupid, or some conspiracy explains it
Most people cannot accept that people have
Different kinds of moral systems
Because there are different ways of seeing life
They cannot admit they have doubts or compromise
Because they see this as a sign of weakness
Even babies do not start with a clean slate morally
People will always disagree on the most important issues
Our ideological divide even in America
Spans hundreds of years now
Just like 1/4 of the population votes one way
1/4 votes the opposite
And the other 1/2 wants nothing to do with it
In the past we have had frontiers in America
And lower population density
And fewer people lived in large cities
Many of the problems we face today
Have been around in large cities for a very long time
In much of Central Asian and Middle Eastern history
The same local leaders stayed in power
Across multiple changes in empires
In much of Chinese history
Their culture and ethnicity was very uniform
In Europe there were many wars
Between different factions of Christianity
Once atheism gained traction in the early 19th century
The divide became more between Christianity and atheism
We will always have both unity and division
As those things that unite also divide
And those things that divide also unite
Because there has to be something to unite around
Which usually excludes someone
So maybe frontiers are good and can
Allow people to start over again
Although the American example is bad
Because someone already lived in these “frontiers”
Christianity can be a better frontier today
If we had a change in our paradigm
Where we saw the spiritual
As being as real and immediate
As the physical world
The early Church and even the disciples themselves
Lived in very diverse situations
But they were able to overcome and survive despite that
This was possible because of the work of the Holy Spirit
But the Holy Spirit does not force Christians to obey ever
There will always be multiple groups with different opinions
We need to as a Church focus on the how
As we already agree on the Who and somewhat on the what
God controls the future of His Church
So we must wait on Him and follow His will
We will continue to screw things up
As most the patriarchs and apostles did as well
But maybe we can learn from these mistakes
Regardless God will continue to do the bulk of the work
And work with us despite our stubbornness