Saturday, September 18, 2010

The conundrum that plagues the world (1)

We are all hypocrites. I know that statement has earned me a few self-righteous retorts but it is true. I lay on my bed pondering on a lot of things. Why am I hesitant about inviting my non-Christian friends and Christian friends for a small soiree? Here are my reasons:

1. My non-Christian friends would want to drink anything other than sugary and fizzy drinks; my Christian friends would wonder why I have lager, alcohol or the like.
2. My non-Christian friends would want to play ‘fun games’ while my Christian friends would be satisfied with sharing testimonies.
3. My non-Christian friends are oblivious to the term ‘indecent exposure’ while my Christian friends perpetually point out what’s decent and what’s not.
4. My non-Christian friends are ready to watch anything and everything while my Christian friends would have to read reviews about a movie before they watch.
5. My non-Christian friends are generous with sharing their escapades with the opposite sex while my Christian friends either have no escapades or they ‘code’ such escapades.

I can go on and on about this but life is not meant to be lived this way…or is it? Having different groups of friends? (Trust me; I have different groups of friends for different aspects and facets of my life). It all boils down to the fact that in reality, we are all hypocrites. I finally have matured to a point where I do not care if people disapprove of a friend because of ‘what she wears’, ‘how she speaks’ etc. after all, you also grind some other people’s gears.

Why is it difficult/almost impossible to accept people the way they are? We all want to change something about people so they can fit out idea about how a perfect person should be. We really should learn to accept people the way they are and stop forcing our beliefs down their throat. My previous statement is just an example of how we try to force our beliefs down people’s throats as some people are of the opinion that their beliefs should be forced down other people’s throats. This is the conundrum that plagues the world.

There are different ways of doing the same thing. Do not delude yourself otherwise. The most important thing to note is the fact that you need to find out which of the different ways works best for you….and stick with it or change it as often as you want to (whatever catches your fancy).

Don’t get me wrong; this is not an article on Christians and non-Christians, its one about our different set of beliefs and how we try to impose them on others. It’s about finding that delicate balance between adhering to your own set of beliefs and respecting the beliefs of others. I wish I could say I have fully mastered the art of achieving the perfect balance but I think I know how to describe the balance that we should strive to achieve.

Over the next few weeks, I would write about various double standards that exist and plague our world.

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