I ran across a notebook (years old) where I had written some observations about a radio show I was listening to, where a man was talking about religious belief and struggles he had had earlier in his life in his home country.
He was talking about his encounters with people from various religions in his new country and their take on religion.
I forget the exact context of his remark, but I wrote it down and it stuck with me, I do think of this from time to time:
He noted wanting to ask people, when he discussed these matters with him "But what have your beliefs COST you?" He was thinking of his own experience that of and people he knew having lost jobs or homes or gone to jail or something for their beliefs.
Yes, the idea has stuck with me since then, I think of it periodically and was glad to run across the reference again in my little notebook.
I think sometimes about what some people's beliefs have cost them.
For my grandfather, dietary restrictions, stated by his church to be biblical requirements, were not what he had grown up with nor lived most of his adult life with either, but they became a cost he took on as a result of his beliefs.
Also for my grandfather, I could see that what little harmony he might have had with my grandmother and my mother was compromised by his beliefs.
They were fed up with is rantings about the End Times and played no role in his dietary restrictions and fasting, even scoffed if they were fed up enough with his other antics.
I think all of them not having conventional religious beliefs probably cost them acceptance in a small town at least from some crowds.
For me, the lack of being raised in a conventional church definitely cost me some acceptance in some circles when I was a kid.
And the lack of an easy identity label (like a denomination label) growing up or in college. (As an adult, It was nice to find Unity church and fit in.)
I remember in college my Jewish roommate fasting one day and feeling very aggrieved about how when she went on a walk with some gentile friends, they spontaneously got ice cream in front of her though she could not participate. She was pretty upset with them. She maintained her fast.
A few religions practice ritual fasting, common possibly in some Eastern practices in addition to Judaism, Islam, and a few minority Christian denominations like my grandfather's.
Some denominations require their members to give up dancing, alcohol, tobacco, or even coffee and tea, entirely.
Others in various religions and denominations choose a life of asceticism, or for one reason or another, it is a choice made for them.
But in a country where we have (and hope we continue to have) religious freedom, my beliefs usually haven't incurred more "cost" than sometimes, in some settings, a little awkwardness, some nosy questions, some disapproving looks, a little gossip, a little preaching or evangelizing, or stern efforts at "correction" of my beliefs from those who think they've got it together, (or some limited haranguing online esp when Facebook was new.)
But many people pay a higher cost.
For some, the religious requirements themselves may be restrictive or demanding, or the social milieu one find's oneself in may be filled with people who do not approve of one's theology and want it changed.
Or maybe there are other things I hadn't thought of with this.
For anybody willing to answer:
What have your beliefs cost you?
A lot? A little? Anything?
What have your beliefs cost you?
