Trying to Be Nice

Apparently, it is Pray for Christopher Hitchens Day. If you don't know, Mr. Hitchens is a very vocal atheist who has written a couple of books denouncing Christianity. He has been diagnosed with esophageal cancer and someone came up with the idea to pray for him.

Isn't that sweet? But it isn't. It has at it's core a smugness that Christians don't even recognize.

Most of them are probably sitting on pins and needles hoping for some sort of miracle conversion from Mr. Hitchens. So they can say, uh, huh, see I'm right and you are wrong.

Some are probably getting some sort of ego boost by feeling that they are being the better person and having pity and compassion for this man despite his "deluded" beliefs.

Some are probably sincere in praying for his recovery.

(Although when I was a Christian, I was taught that the only proper thing to pray for was strength and God's guidance.)

Now I will say that Mr. Hitchens is the kind of atheist I shy away from. My belief system, my moral path, is my own choosing. If you choose a different pathway, great, I will not tell you that you are wrong.

I think standing on sides, pointing fingers and meting out blame for wrongs on either side is not helpful.

Live and let live. Judge a person by how he or she acts and treats others.

Atheism and agnosticism are just another belief system. Like Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Wiccan, Neo-paganism are belief systems. Just different ways of looking at the world we live in. Different ways of walking our journey through life.

If you are praying for Mr. Hitchens or even for me, just make sure you are not doing it for any type of personal satisfaction, because to me, placing yourself spiritually above another because they don't share your beliefs is morally wrong.

Thor sez: Yeah, well, shoving me in a carrier and driving me to the vet is against my beliefs, but that didn't stop you.