S
SilenJack
Guest
Greetings,
I find myself in need of some guidance.
A few years ago, I returned to the Church after almost two decades of generally angry non-belief. I recently moved to New York City from Connecticut. As a past time I like to write fiction, and once I got settled in, I joined a local writers group. Now, I have no illusions about the creative community on the borough of Brooklyn (generally liberal, secular, with a required dislike of religion, Catholicism especially…) I knew there would be plenty of people there who would disagree with my beliefs if they were made aware of them. I certainly didn’t go out of my way to tell them about it, figuring it wasn’t the place. But for the most part they were polite. However, during one meeting,there was one fellow who was very outspoken about how much he disliked folks with traditional beliefs in general, advocating that people should steal books written by authors who, for example, have expressed opposition to gay marriage. I politely disagreed, and in the process “outed” myself as a church-going Catholic. They weren’t hostile about it (I would have left otherwise) and eventually the conversation reached a “let’s agree to disagree” endpoint. However the condescension and smugness was thick enough to suffocate on. The fellow who started the whole thing (who was practically a Left-wing stereotype…he spent ten minutes ranting on about how much of a feminist he is.) could barely keep the smirk off his face. Sort of a “look at the stupid Christian, we need to re-educate him out of his silly superstitions” sort of attitude.
Not everyone there was like that. I’m actually friends now with one of the other writers there, and the man who organized the group remained very polite and professional. But I am wondering if its worth going back. I don’t mind dealing with atheists, provided they aren’t obnoxious about it. But that kind of liberal smugness is a bit much to take. As much as I want to improve my writing, having my faith insulted seems a high price to pay. So, does anyone have any experience dealing with this kind of situation? Any advice to give?
I find myself in need of some guidance.
A few years ago, I returned to the Church after almost two decades of generally angry non-belief. I recently moved to New York City from Connecticut. As a past time I like to write fiction, and once I got settled in, I joined a local writers group. Now, I have no illusions about the creative community on the borough of Brooklyn (generally liberal, secular, with a required dislike of religion, Catholicism especially…) I knew there would be plenty of people there who would disagree with my beliefs if they were made aware of them. I certainly didn’t go out of my way to tell them about it, figuring it wasn’t the place. But for the most part they were polite. However, during one meeting,there was one fellow who was very outspoken about how much he disliked folks with traditional beliefs in general, advocating that people should steal books written by authors who, for example, have expressed opposition to gay marriage. I politely disagreed, and in the process “outed” myself as a church-going Catholic. They weren’t hostile about it (I would have left otherwise) and eventually the conversation reached a “let’s agree to disagree” endpoint. However the condescension and smugness was thick enough to suffocate on. The fellow who started the whole thing (who was practically a Left-wing stereotype…he spent ten minutes ranting on about how much of a feminist he is.) could barely keep the smirk off his face. Sort of a “look at the stupid Christian, we need to re-educate him out of his silly superstitions” sort of attitude.
Not everyone there was like that. I’m actually friends now with one of the other writers there, and the man who organized the group remained very polite and professional. But I am wondering if its worth going back. I don’t mind dealing with atheists, provided they aren’t obnoxious about it. But that kind of liberal smugness is a bit much to take. As much as I want to improve my writing, having my faith insulted seems a high price to pay. So, does anyone have any experience dealing with this kind of situation? Any advice to give?
) Remaining calm and displaying the rational thought behind your beliefs, and showing them those beliefs put into practice through your calm, quiet, humble and polite attitude, is the best way to show those types that they have a fundamental misunderstanding of what the Catholic Faith is.