My beliefs are very important to me and I don't know if they CAN be changed. Many people have tried and failed. I'm pretty strong where I stand and I've never been one to fall for peer pressure!! :D
They are part of who I am. The inner most stuff doesn't change. How they are expressed is a fluid thing. I go with what feels correct for that part of my life. It isn't remotely anything like a "I'm changing camps" kind of thing. I just have no desire to be locked into any theology or religious dogma.
My beliefs can only be changed or shifted by a fresh infusion of accurate data and new discovery. This must be smoothly (no belligerence added) introduced, allowed some variable time to simmer, and I will naturally build all the new connections and form my new opinions. My brain really loves the process.
If another wishes to persuade me, they have to present their argument with calm logic and their research notes up front. I form my own opinions regarding the evidence in my own thoughts, feelings and words - I'm not a parrot.
Very important. And honestly, i think that *some* of my beliefs have changed/been modified as i've grown up and my faith has become my own. I know that a lot of my political thoughts/beliefs have changed pretty drastically since i was younger. I no longer believe that it's the government's job to enforce morality or that it should be highly influenced by morality (except in some very stringent cases).
Anyway... when it comes to my FAITH in God, Jesus, the Bible, and His truth, i don't think there's ANYTHING that could shake that/make me lose my faith.
Highly important. And I cannot imagine something that would cause me to change, save for my own mind throwing up other possibilities, gathering information, filtering, dissimulating, digesting, taking everything I know in for an "inspection, injection, detection, and neglection" as Arlo Guthry Jr. said, and then providing me with a different answer then I have now.
If you can convert me, you can convert the Pope to Mormonism. I'm that stubborn.
They are very important to me. What can change them? Perhaps the life itself, if i become unhappy because of them, I'll change them then. Perhaps... It's difficult to say...
Pretty important, though I'm generally open to suggestions & other ideas. If someone has a really good argument & accurate facts to back it up, that might make me change my mind about certain things.
Not among those though, is my belief that people need to wash their hands more. That one is definitely here to stay.
My core beliefs are extremely important to me. However, I find as I get older I become more flexible and less rigid. I'm open to new thoughts and ideas. I'm open to new ways of thinking and seeing things. :) (Day late, sorry!)
(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-07 09:57 am (UTC)The outward appearance / showing of it? That I reserve the right to change as and when it feels like I need to for whatever reason.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-07 12:25 pm (UTC)I echo this statement :)
(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-07 10:58 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-07 11:05 am (UTC)1) They're pretty much everything
2) New information
(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-07 11:57 am (UTC)Evidence. :D
(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-07 12:59 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-07 01:32 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-07 02:21 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-07 02:35 pm (UTC)If another wishes to persuade me, they have to present their argument with calm logic and their research notes up front. I form my own opinions regarding the evidence in my own thoughts, feelings and words - I'm not a parrot.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-07 06:59 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-07 07:50 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-07 02:42 pm (UTC)Anyway... when it comes to my FAITH in God, Jesus, the Bible, and His truth, i don't think there's ANYTHING that could shake that/make me lose my faith.
♥
(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-07 05:57 pm (UTC)A like-minded person -- so that they never felt the need to change them. ;p
(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-07 06:57 pm (UTC)If you can convert me, you can convert the Pope to Mormonism. I'm that stubborn.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-07 08:22 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-07 08:37 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-08 01:30 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-08 02:00 pm (UTC)Not among those though, is my belief that people need to wash their hands more. That one is definitely here to stay.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-08 09:35 pm (UTC)