Years ago I had a friend tell me that he hated Sushi. He said that it tasted terrible, and it made him sick. He then went into, how eating something that is raw is terrible for you and is a risk to your health. His main point in the matter, was that something he did not like should be something I do not like either. He was just one man though, and I knew that Sushi was liked by many. So I had to ask myself, should I rely on one man's opinion or look into this further?
The thing is, I think we might see this kind of question as making sense with food, yet we do not feel the same with religion. I can not count how many times when I was in the "Witnesses" that people would explain to me how they knew so much about "other religions" or "evolution" and felt no need to learn more. How did they know about these things? Well of course it was not from spending time in libraries or researching with personal interviews. No, they were experts because of the books provided by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society told them what they needed to know. Why does this seem odd?
Well when I went back to college, after leaving the religion, I had to do some pretty large reports. In doing so, a few covered subjects like evolution. So I would go into the library and find this subject and see 100's of books, and ever books on these books, and updates and reports on the on going research. In a short time, I learned that no one book could ever give this subject a fair representation. Then there is the subject of world religions. I thought I knew what it meant do be a Buddhist, Catholic, and what it meant to be a Pagan. Yet when I searched all of the worlds religions properly, I saw I had no clue what it was all about. Soon, I found that in my research of evolution and religion. There were some truths that meant something to me and my own person opinion formed within me. Do I share it with others in a condensed manner and expect them to believe it though? No, you do the research and figure it out for yourself. Why do I see it this way?
Well think of the example of Sushi. My friend that told me about this, really wanted me to stay away from it for some reason. I did for awhile, but then one day I was with a group of people and they had some. They convinced me to have some and did the ordering for me. They showed me how to mix the Wasabi with the Soy Sauce and dip in the fish and savor the flavor. Want to know what I thought? Well I thought, "I love this stuff, this is delicious!!" Yet, had I listened to my friend condensed view of his opinion on Sushi my whole life, I would have never known how wonderful it was.
To me, to say you know about something and then to teach that to others. Well that is a little bit of arrogance, when you have only read a small book by people who were determined to disprove it. A real teacher will research and research for years, and even then. They will teach with the idea that you need to prove this to yourself and not take my word for it.
To me, the greatest part about being an adult, is the education you can allow yourself to have.
My thought
Dragon
Edited by - kenpodragon on 9 October 2002 16:2:24