When Being Different Is Not The Same As Being Bad

Several weeks ago I saw this funny Facebook photo of a billboard with a message on it. The message reads something like this:

"Religion is like a penis. It's okay to have one. It's perfectly fine to appreciate it. But don't go waving it around in public. And don't go shoving it down our childrens' throats."

It's a little bit of toilet humor but it definitely hits the nail right on the head. However, I'd substitute the word "religion" with "belief system" instead. Most of human conflict happens when one person or group of persons try shoving their beliefs into peoples' faces.

Belief systems do not only refer to religions or spiritual systems. An example of a belief system is the one where most archaeologists refuse to believe that any advanced civilization existed before the Egyptians or Sumerians despite numerous evidence to the contrary. Another example is the belief of most doctors that chemotherapy is the only way to treat cancer.

Incidentally, refusing to undergo chemotherapy when one has cancer is apparently illegal in some US states. An acquaintance of one of my friends is in jail now because he had convinced his girlfriend to pursue alternative treatments for her cancer instead of undergoing chemotherapy. How's that for shoving something down someone's throat?

We tend to mentally degrade and berate people who hold opposing views and opinions from ours. It's a defense mechanism to make us think we hold the morally higher ground and thus justify treating that other person badly, since the person "isn't worth it" anyway. I suppose this may have stemmed from our prehistoric beginnings when anything that was different was unknown, and anything that was unknown was dangerous.

Most of the time, stubborn insistence on a belief system hinges on a lot of emotional capital. Other times, there's an ulterior motive, like control or money. When reputations, income or social standings are at stake, it's hard to have an intellectual discussion with anyone. We would all get along better if we simply recognized our differences instead of trying to "save" people from their "mistaken beliefs."

Our beliefs are the lens by which we view the world. The mistake happens when we think that our lens is the only way to see the world. It is the height of arrogance to think that there is no other way to experience life. The liver does not have to do the work of the heart and vice versa, yet both organs can exist at the same time and harmoniously contribute to a healthy body. The same goes for human relationships and belief systems.

There is a thin red line that separates educating people about alternatives versus shoving it down their throats, and I believe that line is there when you respect others for who they are, or in short when one sees the divinity in others and recognizes the kinship of spirits having a shared physical existence. If the respect is not there, then it all devolves into another power play.

When I write this, I'm also referring to myself because I sometimes fall into that same trap of thinking. It's a constant effort to catch oneself to see the unity of existence despite the difference in belief. This is why spiritual systems the world over constantly teach about introspection and self reflection, and I understand now why it should be a lifelong effort.