etee's Blog

This week's Hump Day Hmmm was a day (or two) late, but there was a good reason (I'll let you read it from the blogger's mouth.) The subject, though, was worth the wait:

...what stunning realization has enlightened you recently or at some point in your life and caused you to take a turn, either in your life path or in your thinking? And...what happened next?

I've actually been giving this a bit of thought lately. For most of my life, I have been a staunch conservative. Recently, though, I have experienced a change in some of my beliefs/values, based on personal experiences/observations. The most recent shift came after reading one of the many blog postings over at the Houston Chronicle having to do with the subject of homosexuality. My position on this subject had for years been along the lines of "hate the sin, love the sinner", but while reading through the large volume of increasingly vitriolic comments which culminated in such word turds as

kill all the homos

I came face to face with the fatal flaw of that approach: as human beings, our judgmental side tends to take charge, and we end up focusing almost exclusively on the "HATE the SIN" aspect, totally ignoring the part about "LOVING the SINNER". As a result, I was moved to post the following comment of my own in response:

To Randy, Walt, et al:

Thank you for opening my eyes to the truth. The truth that, even though we talk about "hating the sin and yet loving the sinner", in practice we, as human beings, don't quite reach that mark as we should. I have also felt this way for some years, yet reading the exchange on this post has taught me the folly and hypocrisy of that position. As a result, I have learned that the position I was raised with, and that I have held onto for more than a half century, is no longer tenable. I am going to have to do some very serious soul-searching, an exercise I strongly suspect will lead to me being a better, more compassionate, more inclusive, more Christan person.

Rev. Tittle: I wish you success in your effort to reach out to the Osteens and their ministry.

To those in the LGBT who are reading this: please accept my apology for being close-minded, arrogant, and self-righteous in my attitudes toward you. I hope you will be supportive as I struggle to change my ways, and know that even though I will stumble in this journey, I feel certain that I am headed down the right path.

~EdT.

Posted by: Ed T. at May 2, 2008 02:39 PM

What happened next? You guess:

1. The world came crashing to a cataclysmic end
2. I immediately went out and registered as a Democrat
3. The sun rose in the west the next day
4. None of the above

If you guessed (4), you would be correct. However, life didn't simply go back to the way it was. Instead, I found that I was beginning to listen, actually listen, to what others were saying. Not "pretend to hear while actually formulating my response." This gave the the opportunity to actually understand what the other person was saying. The next thing I found myself doing was spending time actively searching out, and reading, points of view that I didn't share. The idea wasn't necessarily to change my own point of view, but rather to take some time and understand what others were thinking. As a result, I began to truly appreciate what is meant by valuing diversity. And, even though I have been seen as a 'change agent' for diversity within my company for some years now, I am now beginning to feel like one.

And last, but by no means least, I have noticed that, as I become less judgmental, and less inclined to force my own moral values upon others, I also become less stressed. Which is, indeed, a Good Thing™.