faith and tolerance

http://stfubelievers.tumblr.com/
i really hate people sometimes. it's so difficult to stay tolerant of those who are intolerant of faith in general and christians in particular. we're not all crazy, we won't all beat you over the head with a bible, and we're not intolerant douchebags like mainstream media makes us out to be. yes, there are some who only believe because it's how they were brought up, but that's not always the case.
i went through a period of agnosticism a while ago, mostly because life was pretty good and i didn't think i needed God. turns out i was wrong. when i started high school, i spiraled into depression and eventually hit rock bottom; and it's because of that, that i believe the way i do. i wouldn't be on this earth today if God didn't exist, and so because i know He does i trust Him to get me through life.
i'm not writing all this so i can convert my readers: that's not my goal in life. i simply want to get my point across: christians are people too. we don't all lead perfect lives, we don't all have that sanctimonious holier-than-thou attitude, and we're not all uneducated twits who swallow everything they're told. however, we do all deserve the same respect and tolerance of our beliefs that is given unquestioningly to people of almost every other faith.

evolution

The Matthews/Tancredo Mutual Ignorance Session
i don't know what to say about this. i'm a creationist, in biological engineering, at MIT. over the past few years, i've found it increasingly difficult to understand why a solid comprehension of science seems to automatically negate most people's faith in God. as for me, the more i learn the more i am convinced that it could not have happened by chance.
i don't object to the existence of a theory of evolution. the beliefs that other people hold don't hurt me, and for the most part i go about my life not caring about them.
what i do object to, though, is the way creationists are portrayed by evolutionists. we're constantly all lumped together as pseudoscientists, the religious right, "those people," fundies, all sorts of disparaging terms that imply that we're stuck in the Middle Ages. i realize that a disproportionately large amount of creationists lack a formal scientific background and/or come from religious homes. but religion does not imply ignorance.
i fail to see why evolutionists cannot respect creationists. our beliefs are not such that we reject science out of hand; we simply believe in a Creator who designed that which science studies.

embarrassed to be female?

i watched meangirls today. it's so much like my high school it's frightening.

and then i was informed that one of our sororities wants to recruit me. i don't do the whole sorority thing. i don't want to live with a bunch of girls. girls are catty and i much prefer to hang out with guys. at least if they don't like you they're up front with you about it. girls are also much more prone to freak out about stupid stuff i think. in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter what you wear, when you wear it, little things like that. girls seem to attach far too much importance to fitting in and being like everyone else, and it embarrasses me. yes, i am embarrassed to be female sometimes.

sarah palin does that to me too. she's ignorant and pretends not to be. she feels like such a throwback to a pre-women's lib era. and worst, she seemed to want to use religion to justify her platform. i'm not saying you can't have religious beliefs that color your personal beliefs as well: i think most people do. but you can't use religion as an excuse for a standpoint. your own understanding of your religion affects your stance on issues, not the religion itself.

i think i'm just in a mood today...

throwing stones

Video: Tyra Banks Gifts Gender-Reassignment Surgery, Turns on Clarke

oh man. where do i even start?

clarke, you are full of shit. i'm not gna talk about the double standard, tyra does enough of that. but girl, how the hell can you talk about other people like that and then call yourself a Christian? how can you tell isis she's a mistake and then turn around and say God doesn't make mistakes? where is your tolerance? where is the love?

as Christians, and indeed as human beings, we are to live lives of compassion, tolerance, and above all, love. that's what being successful is about. not making money, not being famous, just loving other people and making the world a better place to be. not living that love is how uncrossable lines are drawn; be it between the right and the left, organized religion and those in opposition, anywhere involving latent conflict. people like this are what give Christianity a bad name and make it into some sort of embarassment, when in reality they live in opposition to its tenets.

do you know the story of Jesus and the adulteress? she was going to be stoned after being caught, but he stepped in and what did he say? "He who is without sin, let him cast the first stone:" and the crowd melted away. he had compassion and he forgave her. he forgave her, for a choice she'd made. if we can be forgiven for choices we make, we can't reasonably hold anything against people based on how they're born.

share love. give love. spread love. we all deserve it.

boundaries i don't recognize

so a little more about me & these boundaries.

i like to consider myself post-racial. see, both my parents are from the Caribbean. i'm mixed black & indian, and i don't really identify with either of the two races. or any race, for that matter. on surveys, applications, and official documents i'm black, simply because looking at me, that's the first thing most people would think. personally, though, i prefer to think that race is unnecessary. i don't consider myself one thing or the other (i'll talk a LOT about this in the future i promise) and don't ever want to.

i grew up in a Christian family and i'm a firm believer in God and his existence. i'm also a biomedical engineering major. try reconciling that for a start. most people think it can't be done, but i've found that it works quite well. more on this later too.

and why oh why do people equate Christianity with the "religious right" or "fundamentalists"?! i'm a registered Independent. i vote depending on issues, not along party lines. my faith is not the only thing that influenced my decision on Election Day. similarly, not all Christians are the ones you see in the news spouting hatespeech. don't judge us based on a few highly-publicized examples. yet more posts on religion will follow too.

the world's lines can't box me in. :)

unconstrainedly yours,

Nuala