It occurs to me that we live in a society that wants everything to conform to one image. Of course we demand everyone else to change to our image, so we do not have to change. When someone does not conform to our image we label and disassociate with them.
In churches, the Pastor or some board, or some committee will put down a set of beliefs and everyone is expected to believe and not question those beliefs. People who do not believe in their hearts those things either will have to lie about what they believe or leave and go elsewhere so they can find people who believe the same way that they do. This is how churches split & different denominations are formed.
In business, employers demand that employees be carbon copies of each other, much like they do the machines that they own. Schools have to try to teach the same thing in the same way to all students and when not all students respond the same way then society places the blame on the Teachers. We are taught that all marriages should look the same way, like we all live in the town of Stepford.
The problem with this line of thought as I see it is this: First, all of us have been created different. We have different strengths and different weaknesses. We also have had different things that have happened to us and that have caused us to be even more different. Also since all of us are different, than all combinations of us will be different also. No two successful marriages will be exactly the same , even when one person remarries. What will work in one company, may not work in another because all the people will be different.
In standardizing, we lose the ability to appreciate the differences between us. Churches will no longer touch a person's heart because none there can deal with someone not sharing the same views wholeheartedly. Standardizing will cause missed friendships as well as marriages ending in divorce because people are not created to be carbon copies of each other.
I think that the root cause of standardizing is that we do not respect the right of someone else to have a different opinion from us, even if their opinion is wrong. We no longer can share with each other what we believe and this is why I believe it, or this is the questions that I have about that.
It also seems to me that when we respect the right for people to have an opinion than us, even if that opinion is wrong, we bring unity to everything. Marriages and friendships become stronger. Businesses discover a new resource to create more business. Churches will once again start touching people's hearts.
When we truly love each other, we will not demand other people to be just like us. We give them a safe place to be then we are able to share what we believe. This will actually allow God to change all of us into the person He meant for us to be.
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