Everyone here has probably encountered at least one person who just shits all over a tradition's beliefs and practices simply because they're anti-religion. They're typically pretty ignorant about the religion but don't want to learn a thing about it, they don't want to discuss the merits of said beliefs and practices, and they certainly aren't interested in seeing things from the perspective of practitioners. It's usually a waste of time and energy to engage with them because they dismiss everything you have to say specifically because you are religious and that makes you "stupid."
The best way to deal with people like this is usually to ignore them, but that's not always easy. As much as I try to avoid these kinds of people, I seem to keep running into them both in the outside world and on the internet. I never engage with anyone like this unless I know them personally and think they might actually listen to me. However, even though I ignore other people who do this, I almost always find myself dwelling on what they say or write, feeling angry and frustrated that they're going out of their way to shit all over a religion that typically has nothing to do with them (with obvious exceptions to issues like abortion, where religious people have tried to push their beliefs on others) but is very meaningful and important to that religion's followers.
I feel even worse knowing that I can't do anything about these situations. For example, I happen to follow a very scientifically-oriented Facebook page that normally posts hilarious and informative things about food and medicine. However, they recently started mocking anything to do with chakras because they apparently think that chakras are stupid and harmful to "believe in." At first I liked their posts that criticized overpriced snake oil type products that claimed to cure diseases by cleansing the chakras, but then they started mocking things like pendulums - which, as far as I know, have nothing at all to do with food or medicine and are only used for pagan and New Age spiritual practices.
The moderator commented that the pendulum looked like a butt plug and a string of anal beads, and asked if it would cure colon cancer if you shoved it up your ass. Charming. All of the comments that followed were equally ignorant and I knew immediately that I would be ripped to shreds if I criticized the post or dared to suggest that some people find working with their own chakras to be psychologically or spiritually beneficial. So I didn't comment and decided to stop following the page if I see another post like that. However, I still felt frustrated and found myself doing that thing where you keep yourself up at night thinking of all the things you could have said. :/
How do the rest of you deal with the frustration of encountering ignorance and anti-religion people and not being able to do anything about it? Do any of you have the same problem of dwelling on these situations, and have you found a way to let go of the anger and stress that builds up after seeing it constantly?
The best way to deal with people like this is usually to ignore them, but that's not always easy. As much as I try to avoid these kinds of people, I seem to keep running into them both in the outside world and on the internet. I never engage with anyone like this unless I know them personally and think they might actually listen to me. However, even though I ignore other people who do this, I almost always find myself dwelling on what they say or write, feeling angry and frustrated that they're going out of their way to shit all over a religion that typically has nothing to do with them (with obvious exceptions to issues like abortion, where religious people have tried to push their beliefs on others) but is very meaningful and important to that religion's followers.
I feel even worse knowing that I can't do anything about these situations. For example, I happen to follow a very scientifically-oriented Facebook page that normally posts hilarious and informative things about food and medicine. However, they recently started mocking anything to do with chakras because they apparently think that chakras are stupid and harmful to "believe in." At first I liked their posts that criticized overpriced snake oil type products that claimed to cure diseases by cleansing the chakras, but then they started mocking things like pendulums - which, as far as I know, have nothing at all to do with food or medicine and are only used for pagan and New Age spiritual practices.
The moderator commented that the pendulum looked like a butt plug and a string of anal beads, and asked if it would cure colon cancer if you shoved it up your ass. Charming. All of the comments that followed were equally ignorant and I knew immediately that I would be ripped to shreds if I criticized the post or dared to suggest that some people find working with their own chakras to be psychologically or spiritually beneficial. So I didn't comment and decided to stop following the page if I see another post like that. However, I still felt frustrated and found myself doing that thing where you keep yourself up at night thinking of all the things you could have said. :/
How do the rest of you deal with the frustration of encountering ignorance and anti-religion people and not being able to do anything about it? Do any of you have the same problem of dwelling on these situations, and have you found a way to let go of the anger and stress that builds up after seeing it constantly?
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