Posted by
A Transsexual Woman on Tuesday, February 13, 2007 10:50:32 PM
I try to hold respect for other’s beliefs. Sometimes that is more difficult than it
would seem on the surface. The problem
is when I inadvertently let my own beliefs take on an elevated status over the
other person’s belief. The word
“belief,” as is so often with modern languages, has several definitions
depending on the context of its use. For
the purpose of this discussion, the definition is “confidence in the truth or
existence of something not immediately susceptible to rigorous proof.” I think the key words in that definition are
“susceptible to rigorous proof.” As a
rule, that often applies to one’s religious beliefs.
We each have the right to believe in a religious/spiritual
belief system. It doesn’t matter what
comprises that belief system; be it Baha'i, Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism,
Islam, Judaism, Catholicism, Shinto, Scientology, Taoism, or the Frog Queen, we each have the
right to believe what we wish to believe as long as we don’t infringe on the
rights of others to practice our belief.
No belief system is the right one, and none are the wrong one. Each is as valid as the next because they are
BELIEF SYSTEMS! We take our religious/
spiritual beliefs on FAITH, not
rigorous proof. One can not say that
another’s beliefs are false when we can not prove our own beliefs are true.
Religious/spiritual
intolerance is nothing new in the history of human existence. What I find surprising is that the
“guidebook” for so many of these belief systems teaches against intolerance. There is a bit of an oxymoron there, would you
say?