How do you tolerate religious people?

[Ben Davis]

Hi MLA,

How can anyone here think of Christians as people just like you and me?

Because they are people, just like you & me; subject, on the whole, to the same imperfections. Empathy & sympathy are the order of the day.

We all operate under pretty much the same formula. I just feel like talking to a Christian is like talking to a confused elderly person. It's sad to me how people can be so confused and fucked in the head.

It happens to all of us for different reasons. We all have blind spots. If we try to avoid condescension and patronisation, it makes it easier to relate.

I would feel sorry for them, if it weren't for the fact that sometimes they try to make my life hell with their mockery and intolerance. It's hard not to be intolerant of them when they don't extend the same grace. I guess I have just become conditioned to have a negative reaction to Christians because it's become somewhat of an impulse. I know that whenever I engage with a Christian that what's inside their heads are going to be totally fucked and trying to maintain any sort of meaningful conversation with them will mean pussyfooting around their logical pitfalls. I just don't have the patience for it.

I assume you're in the US, am I right? Here's where my blind-spot becomes obvious: I have trouble relating to the types of overbearing christianity that I read about online, because I've never experienced it, personally. Things are very different in the UK. Consequently, my interactions aren't framed by the type of conditioning that yours are. When I engage with christians, face to face, I generally meet reasonable people who compartmentalise their religion and don't let it interfere with other aspects of their lives. Often, I have little/no idea of someone's religiosity until we have specific conversations.

Of course, online it can be a different matter. I've experienced some truly astounding dumb-fuckery. I still manage to maintain a good level of tolerance though, I guess because my formative experiences are so vanilla.