I removed a post on my Facebook wall that read, “If it’s a 'reminder' of human mortality and as a sign of mourning and repentance to god, my take is, why not just use Post It, its cleaner and way easier to remove from your forehead?”
Now anyone with half a brain knows that I’m obviously kidding and seriously don’t expect Catholics to use Post It’s in lieu of the ash they allow priests to cross on their foreheads during Ash Wednesday. If someone wants an image of an ancient torture device drawn on their forehead just to be reminded that they will die soon and it’s their way of telling their god they are sorry for something, that’s cool. My rule is as long as a belief is not being imposed and does not harm anyone, I’d let it be.
I did remove the post for two reasons though. One, I saw a few people starting to hit the “Like” button and I wasn't entirely sure if they realize that what I just wrote was an anti theistic statement. Second, I was literally told it might be viewed as offensive. So not wanting to either mislead people or offend them, I removed it. I am not happy about having to censor myself on my own wall, but I did.
A few months ago, I read a post on a Facebook wall that read, “Where was God in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting? He was in the lives of the policemen that were there that day. He was in the lives of the school teachers that placed themselves between the shooter and the children...”
And while I saw that the post was collecting likes and positive comments about glorifying God, I seriously found it ridiculously offensive. I found it appalling that people miss the fact that God couldn't be in the life of the actual shooter and that that he had to manifest in the lives of other good people. But as offended as I was reading that, I let it slide because it was their wall and they can post any stupid opinion on their wall because I can always easily hide it. Plus I believe that just because something offends someone, it doesn't necessarily mean the offended person is correct.
You see I get it, you can possibly get a Catholic to agree that Burkas are funny looking ninja like wardrobes that are oppressive to women but you may reach a deadlock if you discuss women’s rights through reproductive health. And it’s probably the same with any other religion, you can get away making fun of everything except the faith a person believes in, because as double standard as it is, that’s when things get offensive.
Yes people have the right to their religion, but if something about it is funny, silly and nonsensical don’t expect everybody to respect it. We can’t respect all religious beliefs, because that would mean we would have to respect things that range from genital mutilation to people flying airplanes into buildings.
I removed that post I made because I don’t want to be misinterpreted that I do not respect people. I may attack ideas and make funny comments about opinions, but that doesn't mean I think less of a person nor do I think a singular statement or opinion reflects a person’s entirety. I just want that clear.
If God is real and he created man with a built in feature called the sense of humor, I’d like to think he can take a joke. Surely an all powerful creator of heaven and earth won’t get his feelings hurt just because I said perhaps we should use Post Its during Ash Wednesday (perhaps even call it "Post It Wednesday" and get corporate sponsorship) as a reminder of our mortality, or that in a previous post in this blog I suggested that we make Drive Through Holy Communion stalls for the busy Christian (see my post “Would You Like Some Fries With Your Body Of Christ”).
The fact that I haven’t been smote by lightning just yet means he’s cool with it, and by that logic, if your god can take a joke, you should too.