Woke up pretty late today. Went to eat lunch/breakfast, none of my teammates were around so I went to eat alone. One of my projects this summer was to be comfortable being alone in public places. I think I really am getting the hang of it. I think being able to harness that comfort really helps in having a strong self image and such. So I was all alone watching a bunch of random countries walk by when a Canadian with an 'Athletes in Action' shirt came by and asked to sit with me. Athletes in Action is where sports teams have a religious person to talk to or be bible-y with. At first we were just having a regular conversation, what school do you go to? Where are the Virgin Islands? How did your competition go? What are you studying in school? And then, inevitably I guess, he switched it into the attempt at getting me to think of conversion. I was actually excited to debate the guy. We had formed an open kind of dialogue which we both admitted we don't have certainty in our beliefs, so I thought it would be a very nice exchange. He was very self deprecating which I didn't really appreciate, kept saying, "oh, I'm a dumb jock" and stuff like that.
So, we got into it. He kept coming at me with analogies of Jesus and God and why they are the way they are. I kept coming at him with abstract ideas of reality and fulfillment. And that's where I felt so weak. The thing about what I hold as truth is that it is so abstract and purposely left for you to define yourself. You cannot tell somebody to be self-actualized. Because then the minute you do that, the actualization wouldn't be 'self'. I asked this question maybe a year ago, but again, how do you enable Purism in others? It would be completely antithetical be push someone in a direction. So, very quickly I stopped being on the offensive, and had to just sit back and refute points he made. I respected his hustle honestly. If you have found the truth, why would you not want to tell as many people as possible and get them on board to the right direction?
The arguments are ok and they all make perfect sense with one key element; faith. Faith is like the oil to an engine in regards to following a religion. But I felt the insurmountable wall time and time again, with each analogy. Without me having faith, the stories fell flat, they had logical holes that faith would readily fill. So in regards to arguments sake, he won hands down, he had me playing his game, it would be cool to have him playing my game. But thing is, whenever I do that, I feel bad and want to stop.
In other news, I went to some fair type thing in the city of Kazan. They had a bunch of vendors selling local crafts and stuff. The temporary structures they used were various and interesting. It was just interesting to see how similar people are the world over. The same pattern repeats itself over and over. This occurred to me while we were in a hut that was copying a Mongolian yurt. The conquered culture assimilates into the mainstream society and that conquering culture adopts the culture as a faux 'cartoon' identity. 'Come to our country, we have Indians!' Pretty much. But who are you though? I think there is way to much shame in society. Just an architectural example: there was an unfinished concrete retaining wall at one end of the fair. They had poured the concrete and everything, and then were coming back and cladding the wall with 'stone-like' tiles. WHY?!?!?!?!? Why can't we embrace the might of concrete and celebrate the now of our construction techniques!!!?? Why must we cower and look toward the past for assurance? 'Let's make it look like a roman city, they were beautiful, whereas we aren't.' That's sad man.
Endnote - There are A LOT of Russians in Kazan, lol.
So, we got into it. He kept coming at me with analogies of Jesus and God and why they are the way they are. I kept coming at him with abstract ideas of reality and fulfillment. And that's where I felt so weak. The thing about what I hold as truth is that it is so abstract and purposely left for you to define yourself. You cannot tell somebody to be self-actualized. Because then the minute you do that, the actualization wouldn't be 'self'. I asked this question maybe a year ago, but again, how do you enable Purism in others? It would be completely antithetical be push someone in a direction. So, very quickly I stopped being on the offensive, and had to just sit back and refute points he made. I respected his hustle honestly. If you have found the truth, why would you not want to tell as many people as possible and get them on board to the right direction?
The arguments are ok and they all make perfect sense with one key element; faith. Faith is like the oil to an engine in regards to following a religion. But I felt the insurmountable wall time and time again, with each analogy. Without me having faith, the stories fell flat, they had logical holes that faith would readily fill. So in regards to arguments sake, he won hands down, he had me playing his game, it would be cool to have him playing my game. But thing is, whenever I do that, I feel bad and want to stop.
In other news, I went to some fair type thing in the city of Kazan. They had a bunch of vendors selling local crafts and stuff. The temporary structures they used were various and interesting. It was just interesting to see how similar people are the world over. The same pattern repeats itself over and over. This occurred to me while we were in a hut that was copying a Mongolian yurt. The conquered culture assimilates into the mainstream society and that conquering culture adopts the culture as a faux 'cartoon' identity. 'Come to our country, we have Indians!' Pretty much. But who are you though? I think there is way to much shame in society. Just an architectural example: there was an unfinished concrete retaining wall at one end of the fair. They had poured the concrete and everything, and then were coming back and cladding the wall with 'stone-like' tiles. WHY?!?!?!?!? Why can't we embrace the might of concrete and celebrate the now of our construction techniques!!!?? Why must we cower and look toward the past for assurance? 'Let's make it look like a roman city, they were beautiful, whereas we aren't.' That's sad man.
Endnote - There are A LOT of Russians in Kazan, lol.
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