--Ralph Waldo Emerson

I suppose I'd better briefly clarify yesterday's rant.

I have no interest in convincing anybody else of the correctness of my religious position. Frankly, I think my belief system is the right one for me, but I would never try to claim that anybody else should follow it; I believe that everybody has the ability and the right to decide for themselves, and that, for all practical purposes, there is no One True Way. Conversely, I'm not particularly looking to be shown the One True Way by others, either.

What does bother me is when I'm informed that a given position -- whether mine, or somebody else's -- cannot be held by an honest, intelligent person, and that people holding that position are therefore either dishonest or stupid. I can't help but feel that if I were to make such a statement, it would be the height of arrogance, ignorance, and intolerance on my part. Your mileage may vary; all I can say is that you're not likely to convince me of anything with such an approach.

I suspect that such statements are most often made against groups one sees only as abstractions. It's easy to condemn labels. It gets harder when you can attach faces and voices to them. Goodness knows, I became much more respectful of atheists, and the atheist viewpoint, after a prolonged argument with one, back in my BBS days. (I'm still not sure how he put up with me, actually, but I'm glad he did.) Misconceptions and false assumptions about people often fall apart once you get to know them.

That's really all I had in mind in saying I'd like a bit more religion in journals, which, in hindsight, was both cranky and pretentions of me. But I sometimes get the feeling that some journallers do consider their faith to be important in their lives, but choose to leave that out of their journals. I can't help but feel that, perhaps, the world is a bit poorer for that omission, and that, perhaps, omitting it helps foster the impression that nobody of importance really believes in that stuff.

Of course, I could be wrong, and I rather regret having brought this particular issue up in the first place. Alas, I'm far from perfect myself...

(As an aside, in the same entry, I claim that The First Wives Club is mentioned in The Bestseller. While Brenda Cushman does appear therein, I haven't noticed a reference to the movie in later readings. Perhaps I was thinking of Switcheroo?)

On the other hand, money has failed to arrive thus far.

It's only a matter of time. I just wish it'd hurry up a bit...