Categories: random
Tags: comfort, beliefs, Christianity, church
Date: 12 February 2008 21:23:00
Following on from my post about abortion a few posts below, I've been thinking (and I may have said this here before) about comfort zones. Thanks to everyone for commenting - all very interesting and thought-provoking comments - and I got thinking about how places like here, and the ship, are places where I have in the past had my beliefs and assumptions challenged. Now however (probably because I'm more comfortable with who I am, and my beliefs) I'm finding that places like here, and the ship, are places where I am quite comfortable and am more likely to have my ego stroked or discuss things with like-minded people (that's not a bad thing, by the way, I'm not complaining!!).
There are a couple of internet sites that I've been reading (one is a blog, the other is more formal but is still somewhere where in theory comments can be left, although as far as I can tell people rarely do), because they sometimes comment on stuff relating to my PhD, which are really taking me out of this comfort zone though. They are both Christian sites, and I printed a load of stuff out today to read from one of them which had me just cringeing. It wouldn't surprise me at some point if they start calling for tinfoil helmets. And of course, it's really easy for me to shake my head and say "they're just wrong", but if my tentative vocation/life-post-PhD/career thoughts are in any way what I end up doing, these are people with whom I may have to engage. So I want to spend now not just ranting at them from the safety of being behind a computer screen in another country, but figuring out how we might engage with each other with grace and humility - and that's got to start with me. It feels very ironic for me that I'm finding the greatest challenges to my comfort zones are from the more conservative end of Christianity.