In the blog world, I only bring up my beliefs where I think they’re warranted by the discussion. Because I am respectful everywhere else, I reserve the right to be blunt here on my blog. I want people to be blunt here: respectful of people but not necessarily of ideas.

I do appreciate your respectfulness of others…thank you for that. I also agree that our blogs are our own, and we should be able to share our thoughts and beliefs if we want to. If someone felt offended, they just wouldn’t have to read it.

I agree with the concept of sharing what we know to be true. One thing that I shy away from is claiming to be something I’m not. I’m the first to say that I’m not perfect. This is why I won’t put myself on any kind of pedestal or profess to know better than you. But I will stand up for the things I believe, for the same reasons you mentioned in your post. Because how could we profess to believe something, and yet be afraid to share that belief? How could we claim to truly believe something if we were not willing to suffer the uncomfortable parts of sharing that belief? For these reasons, you will continue to share with us as you have in this post….and I will continue to share with you what I believe. Neither of expects to convert the other, we just know that we must share what we believe in order to fulfill our responsibilities to each other.

PS- there is a God…and he loves you.

Thank you for your efforts at understanding. There should be more of that going around.

This may sound perverse (not like that), but I think it’s good to be offended once in a while. Working in a place where being inoffensive is required, I see that being offended in moderate amounts is healthy. If the world were completely inoffensive, I think an important part of us would die. Being offended is another way to say being challenged. I visit a few blogs just so I can be offended.

I wouldn’t be honest if I said that I had no hope that my words would persuade someone to let go of religion. What I hope is that I’m not coercive or emotionally manipulative. I hope only to state my beliefs clearly and persuasively so that others who are ready to hear will experience the truth of what I say.

The important point is that my friendship and love is not contingent on someone sharing my views.

Paul Sunstone,

Well said. I’ve struggled to avoid to gain an independent view of myself, to disregard the opinions of others. The best path, however, is probably to take others’ opinions into consideration while maintaining my independence. Sometimes there is truth in the opinions of others, sometimes buried beneath a pile of crap.

On the flip side, it can be hard to decide when to let someone learn for themselves and when to offer your opinion.

Scientific inquiry is a wonderful example. The more we investigate things together and discuss our ideas, the faster we learn.

I wish you happiness and truth on your journey.