For millions of Christians around the world, today is Christmas Day and the underlying Christmas message is one of peace and goodwill.
Sadly there seems to be precious little of either these days. Increasingly people around the world are torn apart by their beliefs and opinions and the world is becoming an angry place in which to live.
Perhaps it was always that way but in my lifetime I cannot remember a time when tensions were greater between people, or it seems.
The rise in abuse:
Just take a look at social media for instance.
We live in an age where self-appointed thought-police cruise social media constantly looking for people expressing opinions which conflict with their prejudices.
Express such an opinion and you’ll be subjected to public abuse of the worst and most offensive kind very quickly, more often than not.
One opinion is just as valid as the next:
Now one person’s opinion is just as valid as the next person’s, surely?
Whether they’re right or wrong, they’re just opinions. An opinion is just an expression of how one person sees the world. Different opinions can peacefully coexist, if we let them.
Certainly there can be no justification for the bile we see aimed at people on social media in response to some innocent remark they may have made or opinion they may have expressed.
Hate is the ugly sister of fear:
We’ve seen a lot of this negative behaviour here in the UK recently during the General Election campaign.
So much hate directed at politicians but also at ordinary people should they have been unwise enough to express their opinions on key issues of the day on social media
Hate is on the increase but of course hate is just the ugly sister of fear. And I think fear is the underlying problem here.
We fear change; we fear other people’s ideas of how we should live our lives; and we fear those people who are not a reflection of ourselves.
See people for what they are not what they aren’t:
If only we could see other people for what they are, rather than what they aren’t, we’d see that none of us are really that different at all.
We all eat, we sleep, we laugh, we cry. We all bathe and we all go to the toilet. And really all any of us wants is a better world for our children.
If only we could listen to each other and seek to understand why others feel the way they do then the world would be a better place. Well I think so anyway.
I have travelled more than most people and I’ve met, lived and worked with people from many cultures and I can tell you that some of the nicest, most decent and cultured people I’ve ever met have come from cultures other than my own.
The true nature of religion:
A good person is a good person. He or she is just someone who is kind, decent, good natured and of good character. Factors such as religion, skin colour, sexual orientation and so one are just incidental.
Religion is important to civilisation insofar as it underpins civilisation with a moral framework. In that sense I think all religions are the same.
They may differ in detail of course but they all provide believers with ways in which to lead good and decent lives.
Equally they include the incentive that if people lead good and decent lives then they’ll go to a better place when they pass on and leave this world.
So a person’s faith or religion should be treated with respect, regardless of whether it’s the same as ours or not. Judgement will come from a greater power at the end of our lives.
Today’s message:
My message today is a simple one.
If we are to create a better world then we should first seek to understand and then to be understood. Engage with people whoever they are and try to understand why they feel the way they do.
Above all show respect and common courtesy to other people and if you can’t agree with them, at least you can always agree to disagree and let different opinions peacefully coexist.
Wherever you are today Dear Reader, if you’re celebrating Christmas then I wish you a very merry Christmas and may it be peaceful and filled with warmth, abundance and the comradeship of family and friends.
However if for you today is just another working day, then I hope the environment in which you work is friendly and peaceful. And I hope the world in which you live is peaceful too.
May God bless you all and may 2020 and the new decade prove to be all you would like it to be.
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© Roy Joseph Sutton and Mann Island Media Limited 2019. All Rights Reserved.
