I think that most of us can agree that this article wasn't as clear or straightforward as we would have liked it to be. At times I wasn't sure what exactly she was trying to say. Maybe I'm just really tired. But i tried my best to understand it as much as I could. It seemed like she was trying to make some sort of connection between science and religion. I think she was trying to say people are turning to science for answers when they can be so simply answered by religion. People are letting science cloud their mind when pure religion should be where they turn. And then when peoples beliefs clash, there is always that awkward thing of "should i stand up for what I believe in- even when it is different than what others may think?"
I experienced this a lot growing up. People in my town weren;t too familiar with Mormons and at times I got a lot of heat for some of our doctrine. There were times when I thought it would be so much easier if I just let them think what they want and not rely stand up for what I have been taught my whole life. I think it is important to learn how to do this, while respecting others beliefs. It is important to stand up for yourself without draggin goes down. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and though at times we might want to shake the and ask them why they cant just believe in this gospel, we can't do that. By being civil and respecting others beliefs, we might be paving the road for more later on.
I think this an kind of be related to the "Meet Your Farmer" videos because this is something I am not familiar with at all. Honestly, living on a farm and having to do those chores all day long sounds like death. I can't think of many things that sound worse. it would be easy for me to continue living with this notion and not really respect or care about people that actually do it. But watching these videos made me see them in a new light. Just because I dont agree with their "belief" doesn't mean I have to take an extremist view on it. After watching a few, I have a newfound respect for those they do that. They put so much work and effort in. So much work and effort that often goes unnoticed.
I think that it what I got out of this assignment. That you can agree with something without fully having to invest and believe in it. We are all entitled to believe what ever we want to believe. We just have to learn to coincide with those who may believe things contrary to us.
A couple of things you said stood out to me. One was that we all have the right to our own beliefs. We can all believe whatever we want. It's part of what makes us human. (And it makes life more interesting cuz then you have things to argue about!)
ReplyDeleteAnother thing was how you gained more respect for farmers after watching those videos. That, right there, is the answer to world peace (Ok, probably not but it would help.) We need to learn about beliefs and ideas that are different from our own. That way we can better understand them and respect them. That is all.
Let me jump in here. I think what you said about knowing how to stand up for ourselves in spite of what others believe is true. I also think it is important to understand that not everyone is going to agree or understand, so sometimes it's ok to just smile and nod, and not cast your pearls before swine. I think farming would suck and yet be awesome at the same time, but I'm not about to go do it.
ReplyDeleteYour paragraph that talked about living somewhere where Mormonism is not very known is completely foreign to be considering I lived in Utah my entire life, but I completely know what you mean. Going along with that on the opposite end of the spectrum, if you are Mormon in Utah but you don't necessarily live every doctrine and principle that everyone thinks you should, you get a lot of heat about it as well. You have to stand up for your beliefs here as well even if you are a member of the same religion. It's important to stay in line with what we have been taught, but at the same time we have to decide for ourselves where to draw the line.
ReplyDeleteI guess it's just that people are judgmental, even us mormons, no matter where we are from. It is taught so much that it is not our job to judge, yet we are all victims and guilty of it.