Religion as a prerequisite

We went to our hope-to-be annual end of the year homeschool park day yesterday. I had a great time talking to the other moms. I got to catch up with a few that I already know and met quite a few new people, too.

I got talking to one mom about TJEd (A Thomas Jefferson Education), which is something that I've recently been introduced to. I tried to explain it in as plain of terms as I could without going overboard (as it really is very similar to unschooling). My point here is not to discuss TJEd but to mention what came to me last night at work as I was thinking about the small conversation that I had with this other mom.

Is it right to say you don't like someone because their "religion"? When I first mentioned TJEd in this conversation, the first thing that was said was "I don't like Thomas Jefferson, he was a humanist". Well, OK, but the book isn't about TJ and whether or not he was a humanist... it's about leadership education... it's about believing that everyone is born with genius and how to bring that out in them. Then there was something said to the effect of "TJ was a humanist but he agreed with Christian morals and views". Again, the book isn't about TJ, but about self-education and getting off the conveyer-belt.

So, as I was thinking at work last night about this conversation, I ended up being focused on the oddity of not liking someone just because of their "religion" or lack there of. Is someone's "religion" a prerequisite for being their friend or foe? Is this the first thing you ask someone when you meet them? Do you just assume that they are going to agree with you? I found it very odd to say "I don't like TJ because he's a humanist". What about all of his other qualities? What about the man he was? What about the leader he was?

And now, as I'm thinking about the comment, "TJ was a humanist but he agreed with Christian morals and views". Well, as I know, those morals and views run through as a foundation of many, many "religions". They began before Christianity did. Many people who are not Christians believe in moral integrity, goodness, family values, etc. These values didn't begin with or end with Christ. Many "religions" study and follow Jesus' teachings but don't believe he is the begotten son of God.

I guess I just find this prerequisite so strange and limiting. Although, I have my "religious" foundation and belief system... I don't put God in a box like that. I don't put myself or my child in a box like that. I believe goodness is of God and God will use all of his children (as we are all his children), Christian beliefs or not, to the better good of humanity. These ideas and "beliefs" of mine are where I tend to butt heads with many people around me (as I am gratefully and sometimes not so gratefully in an area much of the Bible belt). God is way more than I could ever know or comprehend and I refuse to put him in some nice little box of conformity. I refuse to limit my world and my mind to ideas that are outside of the box. I seek knowledge and ideas of all areas of thought and philosophy and then break that against the God that I know and love.

I may come across ideas and views that do not mesh with who I am or what I believe but that doesn't mean I should not study them. I should for the purpose of knowing why I don't agree with them. Should we not study Marx, Stalin, Hitler and Hussien because of the evil they brought into this world? Absolutely not! We SHOULD study them not only to see how their minds worked but to try to grasp how these men managed to bring whole nations of people to their way of thinking and to destroy large groups of people who opposed them! We cannot ignore evil and ignorance! It was ignored in Germany by many people and look what happened, a man like Hitler took over and spread evil wherever he went.

So, I guess, once again, I am frustrated with the "religious" box.