"The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us..." should we be grateful?

[Catholic_Lady]

You know the original reason for the thread is one thing. But the reason I asked you if it offended you probably was motivated more by trying to understand how well you are separating what people think about religion from what they think about you. I doubt if any of us has a religious relative we wouldn't trade for you in a heartbeat. You are like the ideal religious person to interact with.

But .. sometimes you come off a little bit like Ms Manners. Does anyone else tell you that? Thinking and talking about what one does or should do if one cares about a person makes sense when people subscribe to the same objective moral foundation. But that is kind of in question here. While I like you a lot I have to say, I don't often think or talk about how people should behave.

Oh sure, I'm quick to call out the assholes when I'm driving but then there is a (supposedly) shared foundation for expectations provided by the vehicle code. But by and large I just don't spend much time thinking about how I and others should act. I like to be spontaneous morally.

Exploring the differences for me is fun but I don't want to go beyond what is fun for you. Do we need a safe word?

First, thanks for the kind words.

As far as talking about how people should behave, the only reason I did so is because Rhythm asked me about it, and we got into conversation in regards to what would or would not be appropriate. I guess I should have more emphasized that it was "my opinion" rather than just saying it.

But yes, I stand by it as my opinion. I think if you care about someone, making fun of them to their face is a much less caring thing to do than to sit down and respectfully tell them that you are concerned about their beliefs. This seems pretty basic to me and I can't imagine anyone legitimately thinking differently, but nonetheless, I should have presented it as my opinion. So I apologize.

Now to address your "separating what people think about religion from what they think about you", here's what I think.

Let's say I think Ugg boots are the most hideous, ridiculous article of clothing I have ever seen. Not only that, but I think they are also bad because they use wool from sheep who are treated very very badly.

Let's say I have a friend who loves them and wears them ALL the time.

Should me thinking Ugg boots are awful be offenssive to her? Obviously not.

Should it be offensive to her if I sat down with her and respectfully told her I think they just don't look good on her and I'm against them because they are attached to inhumane treatment of animals? Also, no.

But if I pointed at her, and laughed, and said some nasty stuff like "why the hell are you wearing those God awful f---ing boots?? They look ridiculous, and apparently you're ok with the mistreatment of animals, which makes me sick!"

If she got offended by this, would it be reasonable for me to say "Hey, what's your problem?? I wasn't making fun of you, just your clothes!"

Now keep in mind that religion to a devout person is much more a part of who they are than a pair of shoes they wear. So again, it really doesn't make any sense to make fun of someone's religion to their face and then say "oh I wasn't making fun of you, I was just making fun of your most core values and principles, what you stand for, and the things you hold most dear in your heart."

Does that make any sense?