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We're raised knowing people are different and make different choices, but as a Christian who tries to take the whole "love your neighbor" thing seriously, I try to love and accept people as they are and pick and choose my battles. Sure, I may not approve of one's life style, but that doesn't mean I hate them or what to campaign against their decisions, unless it is a matter of an innocent party getting harmed.
But I really do have a very difficult time understanding why people indulge--and celebrate legal protection for--self-damaging and risky behavior. Certainly, I am free to choose not to associate myself with these things if I don't like them, and there would be not sense in chastising people for their choices. But there's this part of me that still screams, "WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU GET INVOLVED IN THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE!?"
Everyone should know that if you smoke cigarette's, you're hurting multiple parts of your body. If you drink too much, you risk hurting parts of your body, and causing incidents while under the influence. If you smoke pot, it messes with your head (and it hurts to see people you love become pot smokers, just like any other addiction). If you have sex, you run the risk of unwanted pregnancy or STDs. (To clarify: sex is a good thing, but frankly, you always run these risks, and my preference is to limit them by only having one partner in a situation where I'd be okay with pregnancy occurring. That, and I don't like the idea of pumping my body up with hormones to fool my body into thinking its pregnant--but again, I can't speak for everyone.)
I find it perfectly easy to abstain from all of this, and in fact, my life is easier because I abstain from them. By no means do I lead a boring lifestyle either. That's the life style I chose and I can't chastise people for choosing otherwise, but... BUT IT'S SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND. My brain just is not wired to think that my life would be better would these in it, and I just have to accept that many people are wired to think the marginal benefits outweigh the marginal costs, just as in any decision.
Of course, these are just socially acceptable points of "abstinence" to argue--of I don't mean I'm perfect or have wonderfully diligent self-control. I recognize that I have quite a sugar addiction and don't try very hard to fight it. I would be up in arms if anyone ever tried to make chocolate consumption illegal, and I try to think about other substances in the same way in and effort to understand this. (On that note, yes, demand for chocolate is hurting the world's cacao supply. I know this, yet I don't let up.)
Just because I don't partake in these risky behaviors does not mean I am a saint. I've been thinking a lot about my eating habits lately--specifically, where my food is coming from and what impact my eating choices have on the rest of the world. Sure, I think that if I'm going to eat beef I'd rather eat happy beef because it's healthier for me and the cow, but what about everything else I eat? There are a lot of really depressed chickens out there and wasted fish as well. Yet it's so much easier not to think about it because it's readily available, part of a balanced diet, and cheaper than alternatives.
Aren't I simply justifying damaging consumption for the sake of my own selfish lifestyle?
It's for reasons like this that I'll hold my tongue when people make self-damaging decisions I cannot understand, as much as I tell myself I should try to. I just don't want to keep my mouth shut when it comes to decisions that hurt others, which is why I am pro-gun control, anti-death penalty, and anti-abortion.
For everything else, I need to check my own behavior first.
But I really do have a very difficult time understanding why people indulge--and celebrate legal protection for--self-damaging and risky behavior. Certainly, I am free to choose not to associate myself with these things if I don't like them, and there would be not sense in chastising people for their choices. But there's this part of me that still screams, "WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU GET INVOLVED IN THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE!?"
Everyone should know that if you smoke cigarette's, you're hurting multiple parts of your body. If you drink too much, you risk hurting parts of your body, and causing incidents while under the influence. If you smoke pot, it messes with your head (and it hurts to see people you love become pot smokers, just like any other addiction). If you have sex, you run the risk of unwanted pregnancy or STDs. (To clarify: sex is a good thing, but frankly, you always run these risks, and my preference is to limit them by only having one partner in a situation where I'd be okay with pregnancy occurring. That, and I don't like the idea of pumping my body up with hormones to fool my body into thinking its pregnant--but again, I can't speak for everyone.)
I find it perfectly easy to abstain from all of this, and in fact, my life is easier because I abstain from them. By no means do I lead a boring lifestyle either. That's the life style I chose and I can't chastise people for choosing otherwise, but... BUT IT'S SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND. My brain just is not wired to think that my life would be better would these in it, and I just have to accept that many people are wired to think the marginal benefits outweigh the marginal costs, just as in any decision.
Of course, these are just socially acceptable points of "abstinence" to argue--of I don't mean I'm perfect or have wonderfully diligent self-control. I recognize that I have quite a sugar addiction and don't try very hard to fight it. I would be up in arms if anyone ever tried to make chocolate consumption illegal, and I try to think about other substances in the same way in and effort to understand this. (On that note, yes, demand for chocolate is hurting the world's cacao supply. I know this, yet I don't let up.)
Just because I don't partake in these risky behaviors does not mean I am a saint. I've been thinking a lot about my eating habits lately--specifically, where my food is coming from and what impact my eating choices have on the rest of the world. Sure, I think that if I'm going to eat beef I'd rather eat happy beef because it's healthier for me and the cow, but what about everything else I eat? There are a lot of really depressed chickens out there and wasted fish as well. Yet it's so much easier not to think about it because it's readily available, part of a balanced diet, and cheaper than alternatives.
Aren't I simply justifying damaging consumption for the sake of my own selfish lifestyle?
It's for reasons like this that I'll hold my tongue when people make self-damaging decisions I cannot understand, as much as I tell myself I should try to. I just don't want to keep my mouth shut when it comes to decisions that hurt others, which is why I am pro-gun control, anti-death penalty, and anti-abortion.
For everything else, I need to check my own behavior first.
