Respect Or Disrespect, That’s The Question
My mother’s side of the family is Christian, so they raised me Christian. When I told them about my doubts and finally, my lack of faith, they didn’t abandon me, but ever since then they have been trying to lead me back to God. They seem to be okay with the fact that I’m an Atheist, but they don’t seem to accept it fully. “You’ll find your way back.”, they say — Will I? Or rather: Should I?
Not everyone in my family knows about my journey out of religion. I do, however, get told by those who know, that I shouldn’t be open about it with everyone. Once a priest in my mum’s little home village invited us for a cup of tea to talk. It was just a friendly invitation from an old acquaintance. The first thing my mum told me was to not mention my atheism to him, since it wouldn’t be respectful. She didn’t realise that atheism was just a philosophy of mine, not a main topic I was bringing up all the time.
Besides, why would my lack of faith be problematic or disrespectful? I am entitled to my opinion about things, or am I not? Theists have the right to believe and atheists have the right to not be convinced. If I were to criticise every Christian all the time, that would be inappropriate. But a Christian criticising me all the time for no reason would be inappropriate as well, wouldn’t it?
I never understood why being an Atheist was such a big deal in society. I would expect more “eye rolling” in highly Christian communities and cultures, considering that today’s younger generation is much less religious than older generations. Still, a lot of so called progressive Christians roll their eyes too a lot of times.
More Than a Third of Gen Z Identifies as Religiously Unaffiliated. It’s not only a lack of religious affiliation that distinguishes Generation Z. They are also far more likely to identify as atheist or agnostic.
Being a non religious person shouldn’t be that big of an issue, yet it often is. Science has come a long way to show that there is no need for anything supernatural, even if it hasn’t proven or disproven anything yet. So again, why is it a problem if I have a different worldview? And above all, why is it disrespectful?
It’s not the belief itself that is disrespectful, it’s the way people convey it that is often problematic.
If someone asks me about my faith or lack thereof, I will be honest. Honesty is strongly valued in Christianity, so there shouldn’t be a problem with it. And if they don’t ask, I won’t bring it up — easy.
Being honest means choosing not to lie, steal, cheat, or deceive in any way. When we are honest, we build strength of character that will allow us to be of great service to God and to others. We are blessed with peace of mind and self-respect and will be trusted by the Lord and others.
We have to understand that worldviews and values often change with time. What was once religious could now be secular or vice versa. As long as we respect other’s beliefs and treat them well, there shouldn’t be any controversy. And if there is, we can deal with it like grown ups. We are humans after all, for God’s sake.
