I know that for some people religion is foremost in their lives and that
for those people their own belief tends to be of marked importance.
Others do so with other things: their careers, their marriages, their
children, their research projects, their volunteer work, etc.
 
Never forget that it is great mistake for such people to then generalize
outward and to assume that since they see all through their own filter
that others must have the same filter.  People don't.  The viewpoints
from which we approach the important questions and solutions in our lives
are as varied as we all are.
 
I don't first think religion when I think about death.  In fact, I don't
think of religion second, third, maybe even further down the chain,
depending on the person and based on my own filters.  Maybe that is
because I have helped nurse my mom through a terminal illness, helped
as a teen when a neighbor died suddenly, dissected a cadaver in gross
anatomy class and handled more bones than I can enumerate for a
university's comparative collection.  My experiences give me my own
take on the major aspects of life just as other's do for them.
 
Sandee helps people mourn.  Others, or maybe at times the same people,
find comfort in Sara Ferret's aid.  That does not make the work they do
religious nor does it make the constructs that they present religious.
What they are doing is helping people put aside the painful part of their
experience and again visualize the ferret as vital and filled with joy.
It loosens the tears, it relaxes the back, it relieves the pain in
stomach, head and heart -- it helps people move ahead to heal.  Are there
people who choose religion to fill these needs?  Yes, but just because
there can be an overlap in functions provided by religion for some people
and the Rainbow Bridge for others does not automatically make what Sandee
and Sara provide a religion or anything even approaching one.
 
Be careful how you filter, Anonymous.  Be careful to not cause harm
through your failure to recognize that not everyone looks at this world
in the same way that you do.  Humans are not a monoculture, and that is
as true spiritually as it is physically.  What works varies among us.
 
There are ways to present one's own take now and then without
misunderstanding and without depriving others of useful help or of those
whom they appreciate.  We may not all be served by Sandee and Sara, but
enough of us are helped that as a community we need to appreciate that
and to honor our fellows with respect and love.  That is true, too, for
the FML which is longest lived ferret list ever in the computerized world
and true for other constructive lists.  Not all lists of posts suit all,
but many serve enough that they are positive pleasures in our lives and
deserve to be respected as useful fora and always helped rather than
harmed.
 
I guess I am saying that no one is fully suited to every type of post so
it's best to scroll past those which don't suit, because if any of us
selfishly puts our own private take above those of others we do harm.
Besides, there are so many religion sites for those who have it as a
primary joy in life that there is no harm in ferrets having their own
different corner of the internet and no reason to poo in their corner.
 
It is possible to present one's own views without hurting others.  The
careful placement of a website URL under a signature now or then (being
careful to not overdo it and not be obnoxious in choice, frequency, or
topic), the discussion in a friendly way of on-topic ferret things (with
OT promptly taken off-list), etc.  all serve.
 
Yes, I realize that you are having difficulty recognizing that not
everyone sees things in your way, but from my years on the FML I have run
into almost no one who sees a religious aspect to the work of people like
the Sandee authors.  I can't speak for anyone else but those who react as
i do aren't approaching it as a religious construct, but as a comforting
fictional one which helps with healing.  There have been times when I was
wound so tightly with grief that I couldn't even cry over a ferret lost.
Then a note about that dear one would appear in Sandee's column and I'd
cry and cry, and I'd remember how strong my lost love had been and
celebrate the ferret's life, because it is the life and not the death in
which I personally find joy.
 
Be careful when stomping that those you stomp aren't those who are doing
very real good.  Don't confuse accomplishing it in ways which simply
differ from your own with not being constructive.
[Posted in FML issue 4360]