I live in a very sheltered world of my own creation. Virtually everyone I spend time with is loving, open and tolerant. At work, I'm in charge of hiring and seek out those who work well with many different kinds of people. At home, we have at least three different religions/philosophies in our immediate family. (This number is often in flux, as we have teenagers.) The point of life, from where I'm sitting, is to live from a place of love, all the time, no matter what. I don't care what you call it, I don't care about your angle. The simple question is, always, "Are you making the loving choice?" If you are, we're cool. All is well.
So, imagine my shock and dismay when I read a poll recently that suggested that people would rather live next door to a pedophile than an atheist. Another poll said that 72% of Americans think Islam is dangerous, while 92% of Americans this atheism is dangerous. Umm... maybe people don't understand what atheism is? It just means that a person doesn't believe in God. It doesn't mean that they do opposite of everything religion teaches. It says nothing, actually, about a person DOES believe at all, or any of their actions or behaviors.
Newsflash, to the people of faith out there. Love everybody all the time means everybody. Even people who are not like us. Even people we may not understand. If we're standing in love, making the loving choice, there's no "other" to fear.Labels: atheist, fear, love, poll