Standing up for beliefs

[MyPseudonym]

Should we stand up for our beliefs every time they are attacked?

i.e: people on facebook supporting same sex “marriage”, etc.

 

[Christy_Beth]

I believe we should. But we must be careful that we aren’t offensive about it. Just let them know that you find their stuff offensive. I had to tell my older brother that not long ago. He took it ok. I think.

 

[DexUK]

It is wise to choose your battles carefully.

Consider the effect of what you say and how you say it, when you encounter people whose beliefs you disagree fundamentally with. Even if you are infinitely polite, you might find that opposing people there and then actually serves to entrench their beliefs rather than shake them.

Remember, you’re not the guardian of other people’s souls (unless those people are children of yours and they’re below the age of reason and/or majority, depending on circumstances). Your responsibility to ‘save’ them doesn’t extend to going ‘all out, all guns blazing’. It is to live your life and give witness to your beliefs by your example in an honourable way.

People react far better to positive role models than they do to lecturing and arguments.

 

[frjohnmaryt]

Yes absolutely.
To all Catholic members, we must be courageous, and brave to be ready to defend our faith; teachings when ‘someone’ teaches or gives strange, wrong impressions and irrelevant definitions of the content of our Catholic faith from inside and outside.
God bless.
In Christ and Mary.

 

[underacloud]

In my opinion facebook is not the place to engage in detailed religious, moral, or political debate. Such debates often get out of hand and descend to a level where a casual observer can’t distinguish good reasoning from bad. So be careful about the fights you choose and the way you go about expressing a view.

 

[babs57]

Remember, you’re not the guardian of other people’s souls (unless those people are children of yours and they’re below the age of reason and/or majority, depending on circumstances).

Actually, it is one of the works of mercy to let someone know when they are sinning. We Are, in fact, our brother’s keeper. However, I do agree with you in that people respond badly to lecturing and argumentation.

I find, when someone (on facebook, for example) says something offensive or wrong about the faith, a simple and humble correction is in order, but not always well-recieved. Sometimes it’s better to private-message someone. If arguements ensue, let it go.

 

[KendraDZ1902]

In my opinion facebook is not the place to engage in detailed religious, moral, or political debate. Such debates often get out of hand and descend to a level where a casual observer can’t distinguish good reasoning from bad. So be careful about the fights you choose and the way you go about expressing a view.

^this!

I’m sure all of our Facebook “friends” know our views. They know how you feel by what you post, just like you know how they feel by what they post. If they write a comment to you, then yes engage. If not, all it will do is either 1. you will be bashed by all of their “friends” or 2. others will end up bashing them. Either way, it never ends in good. I know, I have tried several times.

 

[Christy_Beth]

If someone posts something on face book that you found offensive (like with my brother), don’t post it for all the world to see. You can send them a private message for correction, again, like I did with my brother. How he actually took it, I don’t know. He didn’t apologize, but he hasn’t made any more of that sort of remark. What surprised me was that he knew I’m Catholic, and still proceeded with his post. Basically I told him that I said nothing about some of the stuff he posts, so he could stand to be a bit more “mindful” of what he said. Of course, he brought up the issue of the sex abuse bit. But after my response to that, he hasn’t said much. I’ve tried to engage him in other types of discussion, but with little remark from him. So, I can’t tell you exactly how he took it. Probably fuming to his friends about his weirdo sister.

 

[Loving_disciple]

Stand up for your beliefs when you need to. Some times it’s better to ignore people

 

[Newbie2]

If someone posts something on face book that you found offensive (like with my brother), don’t post it for all the world to see. You can send them a private message for correction, again, like I did with my brother. How he actually took it, I don’t know. He didn’t apologize, but he hasn’t made any more of that sort of remark. What surprised me was that he knew I’m Catholic, and still proceeded with his post. Basically I told him that I said nothing about some of the stuff he posts, so he could stand to be a bit more “mindful” of what he said. Of course, he brought up the issue of the sex abuse bit. But after my response to that, he hasn’t said much. I’ve tried to engage him in other types of discussion, but with little remark from him. So, I can’t tell you exactly how he took it. Probably fuming to his friends about his weirdo sister.

Dittos.

I had the sister of an long time friend post something on my facebook page in response to one of my posts regarding the BSA and their stance on openly homosexual leaders. It was a wish that God would make me more “tolerant”.

I deleted her post and PM’d her inviting her to discuss the matter privately, but she never took me up on it.

 

[Christy_Beth]

That is the problem with this sort of stuff. Some people don’t want to be convinced that they are wrong. My brother is into the “new age” kind of thing. Like, with meditation we can change things. If enough of us meditated about the same thing, then it would make the changes happen all the quicker. This world doesn’t “exist” as we see it. We are held back by all the “lies” we have been told about our limits and what we can accomplish. And mind power is everything. Like I said, this is weird stuff.