Responsive Reading - Feb. 23

In this responsive reading i'm supposed to rewrite the incoming message in my own words and in a positive way. So, here is the incoming message, as seen on religioustolerance.org:

"your religion is the dumbest thing ive ever heard..... how can you be ignorant enough to follow it.... it was made up by someone w/ a 7th grade education, and also the next president was a criminal.... the ppl that follow this religion are loosers who have no life and follow this religion to make an excuse for y they dont go to parties on the weekends. thank you for your time and cooperation."

My rewrite of the comment, but not as icky and with fewer (but not completely without!) typos:

"I've recently read an essay on your site that deals with a religion that I do not believe in. Although my religious beliefs are different then some of the religions expressed on your site, I do appreciate the fact that you are offering information on all religious in a fair and unbiased way. Thank you for your time and cooperation."

See, that wasn't hard. Kinda sad I couldn't fit any foul words in there though, those seem to be very popular in some of those comments. It's not a big deal if you don't agree with someone on some topics, but it is important that you respect their beliefs like you want them to respect yours. It's amazing to me that so many people demand respect for their religion, beliefs, morals, ect., but forget that other people want respect for theirs as well.

For the second part, what are the advantages of negative comments? Aside from getting someone's attention right away, there really aren't any. Even though you might have gained someone's immediate attention, it doesn't mean that attention will be positive, or that they'll even take you seriously or listen to what you have to say. A positive, or even just plain respectful manner of expressing yourself is much better.

Even if you don't agree with someone about religion, or really anything, doesn't mean that you can't approach your conversation with them in a way that lets them know that even though you have a difference of opinion or views you can still discuss the issues in a mature manner.