I have been struggling lately with the disconnect between what I believe and what my church teaches. My parents raised my brothers and I to be “thinking people” - people who are not afraid to wonder, to doubt, to research, to reach our own conclusions about things that affect us, whether they be matters of faith, career choice, or the people we choose to love. And they did this as staunch conservatives.
I have a different set of beliefs from those my parents espouse. Where it matters, they are the same, but on the outskirts… on the edges, where we have the expression of faith, the expression of belief, the expression of thought and doubt… here we differ. And I continue to question, to doubt, to refuse to simply accept “truth” as it is handed to me. I explore ideas from all angles, I read what I can from other points of view. I do not stick to the known… rather, I enjoy venturing into the vast unknown.
And this is important, this ability to question and explore, for all people - not just in matters of faith, but in matters of education, disability rights, and acceptance.
When I was in first year University, I lived in residence, and my RA signed me up for a club (I couldn’t attend the fair). I went to one meeting and didn’t return. The club was supposedly about diversity, which I was definitely interested in. But the diversity this club was promoting was limited to acceptance of homosexuality. And aside from being unable to form a personal opinion on that particular topic at the time, I was not impressed with a “diversity club” that was not truly diverse.
The system needs to be changed. Diversity - true diversity - needs to be embraced and accepted. A closed community quickly becomes stagnant and eventually dies, all the while wondering why it’s not gaining any new members.
Culture affects us, but we affect culture.
We need to effect change in this culture.
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