Tonight I was watching Bill Moyers Journal, Beyond our Differences. The film was a very well produced. It really made me think about faith and how it relates to others. Now, I have thought about this many times in the past, but reminders often make you ponder and rethink.
All religions call for us to think of others, pray for our enemies and to treat others as we want to be. Emphasizing these points, the piece used scriptures from all of the major religions that call for us to remember to not do things that we would find hurtful. Desmonde Tutu explained that we hurt ourselves the most when we give in to our anger and resort to violence.
Many times, I have tried to live to the ideals of forgiveness; though the truth is, I have failed many times. Falling into a desire to forgive, knowing that it is through this we can be forgiven. I have struggled with forgiveness, thinking that it also requires us to put ourselves in harms way over and over. I have found myself tolerating so much that it deteriorated my sense of self so much that I couldn't find it. Just recently I had to stop allowing people to treat me badly.
One part repeated the sentiment that it is better to be associated with the persecuted than persecutors, but I don't think it requires everyone to become martyrs. So many of our daily struggles are unnecessary. I think sometimes walking away is all people can do, especially when staying helps nobody. How do we learn and become better people if we always allow people to walk in ignorance and without consequences their actions?
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