Hi. I'm Nathaniel. I'm a Christian. I also play Dungeons & Dragons...Satan's game.
In isolation, either one of these facts might give you an impression of who I am. The first one: maybe I'm a fine, upstanding individual; maybe I'm one of those people who's keeping scientific and social progress locked in the 16th century. The second one: perhaps I'm a just a geek; perhaps I'm anti-Christian, doing exactly what Jack Chick warned about.
I rarely drink, and I've never done drugs. Does that make me a model citizen, or a total bore? I play violent video games, though—how does that affect my identity?
So I'm a sober Christian who plays violent video games and D&D. If you're having trouble reconciling these assertions, you're in good company—I make assumptions about people based on isolated facts all the time. The key is to get to know the people before acting on those assumptions. If I say I'm a Christian, and you say D&D is anti-Christian, then that doesn't automatically make me a liar, or you delusional. We are complex beings, full of secrets and apparent contradictions that make sense upon closer inspection.
We are people, not labels.
Labels are a fine starting point, but a dangerous ending point. When introducing myself to someone new, I'll often profess to be a geek, rattling off a few geeky interests to sow the seeds of conversation. It's not uncommon for those seeds not to sprout, so I've learned to gloss over the "geek" point and talk about my job, my wife, traveling around the world, my eclectic taste in music, etc., and hope that one of the many things I've listed serves as a discussion hook. Even if nothing I say gets a nibble, then I've at least established myself as a person of varied interests and diverse history. "Geek" sums up a lot of my personality, but it's not exclusively who I am, and I would be remiss in letting someone walk away from a conversation without giving them any sense of who I am beyond that.
Sadly, the labels are often all we see. From social and political issues to matters of faith and personal taste, we categorically dismiss or disdain the people who bear labels we don't like. Gays. Muslims. The rich. The poor. The French. The elderly. Politicians. CEOs. Whites. Jocks. Libertarians. Environmentalists. Fundamentalists. Porn stars. Terrorists. Nickelback fans. Anyone who sees the world differently than we do, comes from a different background than we do, is in any way different from us. We as a species reserve the right to stop thinking of you as a person if there's even a single label we can apply to you.
I don't have to agree with you. I don't have to like you. And I don't have to turn a deaf ear to you because of a label.
In isolation, either one of these facts might give you an impression of who I am. The first one: maybe I'm a fine, upstanding individual; maybe I'm one of those people who's keeping scientific and social progress locked in the 16th century. The second one: perhaps I'm a just a geek; perhaps I'm anti-Christian, doing exactly what Jack Chick warned about.
I rarely drink, and I've never done drugs. Does that make me a model citizen, or a total bore? I play violent video games, though—how does that affect my identity?
So I'm a sober Christian who plays violent video games and D&D. If you're having trouble reconciling these assertions, you're in good company—I make assumptions about people based on isolated facts all the time. The key is to get to know the people before acting on those assumptions. If I say I'm a Christian, and you say D&D is anti-Christian, then that doesn't automatically make me a liar, or you delusional. We are complex beings, full of secrets and apparent contradictions that make sense upon closer inspection.
We are people, not labels.
Labels are a fine starting point, but a dangerous ending point. When introducing myself to someone new, I'll often profess to be a geek, rattling off a few geeky interests to sow the seeds of conversation. It's not uncommon for those seeds not to sprout, so I've learned to gloss over the "geek" point and talk about my job, my wife, traveling around the world, my eclectic taste in music, etc., and hope that one of the many things I've listed serves as a discussion hook. Even if nothing I say gets a nibble, then I've at least established myself as a person of varied interests and diverse history. "Geek" sums up a lot of my personality, but it's not exclusively who I am, and I would be remiss in letting someone walk away from a conversation without giving them any sense of who I am beyond that.
Sadly, the labels are often all we see. From social and political issues to matters of faith and personal taste, we categorically dismiss or disdain the people who bear labels we don't like. Gays. Muslims. The rich. The poor. The French. The elderly. Politicians. CEOs. Whites. Jocks. Libertarians. Environmentalists. Fundamentalists. Porn stars. Terrorists. Nickelback fans. Anyone who sees the world differently than we do, comes from a different background than we do, is in any way different from us. We as a species reserve the right to stop thinking of you as a person if there's even a single label we can apply to you.
I don't have to agree with you. I don't have to like you. And I don't have to turn a deaf ear to you because of a label.
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