At a Loss
Y'know, sometimes people do things and I just can't find any appropriate response...
Maybe it's talk about a diet, or self-help system - generally someone expressing a belief that sounds either outlandish or needlessly overcomplicating something simple to me. Years ago, I ran into this with a friend of a friend at a convention who was talking about dragons like she had one. Or had one watching over her. Or something - I don't even recall now other than how all I could really do to respond was smile and nod.
Today, we went to borrow something from a friend who was at the train station with some sort of amateur ghost hunting group. That's "bad" enough, but one of the guys there sees the X-Files shirt I'm wearing (came from a Loot Crate, I think the show was fine, but it isn't meant as any embodiment of my beliefs or anything) and introduces himself, following up with inviting me to a... UFO support group? UFO enthusiast support group? Something like that. All I can manage is something along the lines of, "Thanks, but not right now."
I certainly don't want to get into an argument about whether UFOs are real. Or ghosts. Or dragons. Or the power of homeopathy. But expressing a strong belief in the reality of such things that seem to me to be unverifiable more often than not does not give me any sort of point to connect to. In conversation or even as a self-aware entity...
Maybe it's talk about a diet, or self-help system - generally someone expressing a belief that sounds either outlandish or needlessly overcomplicating something simple to me. Years ago, I ran into this with a friend of a friend at a convention who was talking about dragons like she had one. Or had one watching over her. Or something - I don't even recall now other than how all I could really do to respond was smile and nod.
Today, we went to borrow something from a friend who was at the train station with some sort of amateur ghost hunting group. That's "bad" enough, but one of the guys there sees the X-Files shirt I'm wearing (came from a Loot Crate, I think the show was fine, but it isn't meant as any embodiment of my beliefs or anything) and introduces himself, following up with inviting me to a... UFO support group? UFO enthusiast support group? Something like that. All I can manage is something along the lines of, "Thanks, but not right now."
I certainly don't want to get into an argument about whether UFOs are real. Or ghosts. Or dragons. Or the power of homeopathy. But expressing a strong belief in the reality of such things that seem to me to be unverifiable more often than not does not give me any sort of point to connect to. In conversation or even as a self-aware entity...
That makes me think of my faith. I can't prove anything to my belief system - and if one doesn't believe, that's fine. Even the experience I've had - I don't have 'proof', so trying to shove that onto someone else? Yeah, no.
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