Facets of Online Chatting

I was in the edge of my realistic life; everything went wrong, slowly killing my self-esteem, forcing me to stop, just stop and meditate. I wanted to confine myself in the solitude of my room; I would rather talk with strangers than my friends who knew me well and have stereotype ideas on my actions…. A stranger why not…..that is the very idea of online chatting, meeting people, talking with them exchanging views, forgetting reality…socializing……

I excitedly opened accounts such as yahoo messenger, windows live, windows hotmail, Skye, and then friendster, tagged, multiply, face book and even Blogs. I was so amazed of how one can create their own cyber world, meet new friends from different parts of the world, from different walks of life, with different professions, passions, desires, attitudes, religions and cultures.

There are many people I had met, but on top of all I noticed striking divergence between Christian and Muslim. Many articles had and would dwell on this deeply but this article will only tackle my point of view and hoping that there will be no offense made on religion sensitive readers who might possibly read this…

First thing I noticed is that most Muslims I chatted with, are courteous than some of Christians. I am a Christian myself and I know I am polite but these Muslims really guarded their manners and gave due respect to other users, although not all. My experience is limited and five months of regular chatting might not justify this. Christians on the other hand are more expressive and liberal in point of views and in using words.

What caught me in awe was meeting three virgin people, men specifically with ages 25-35 and they were all Muslims. If I heard it 10 years back it might not be a big issue but now? I don’t know any Christian who is still virgin within that age bracket, considering my chat mates are 90 percent Christians. I admire their discipline, not to do it outside marriage merely because religion dictates. Seldom would a Christian hesitate doing it because they’re Christian, many self-confessed devout Christians twisted catholic teachings for their benefits. God would understand and God forgives. That’s how it is. Jesus is always there to save us.

Another thing is marriage, I knew they can marry more than one, up to four maybe. But what surprised me was one can choose between permanent wedding and temporary wedding. And take note, it does matter if a woman is virgin. In temporary wedding as my friend told me (feel free to verify in the net and in your friends), the new husband and wife can file a divorce just a day after….hmmm what weddings are for? But the bride will not get divorced money in temporary…so I would rather have a permanent wedding to have the money before marriage and after divorce…in my dreams…

Christian wedding are different. It has different forms but meant to be done once. Before my marriage I really loved the idea. Its like living in a happy ever after romance with my husband. But when everything went wrong I felt stuck to a marriage we both not desire now. Marriage can be blissful but it can also be hell. Lucky are those who found the right one. But one can never be sure.

I was not an anti Christian now…as a matter of fact I love my religion….its just that, us Christians is what making it bad in the eyes of others….our morals are degrading….our easy ways are contagious, our goals are materials and our savior is suffering.

Culture and religion, I learned if not much thru online chatting. It is different in books, and most people I dealt with in real life are Christians. Views that I heard from net users, made me think twice as harder, even made me question my own belief, but as Christian I stand firm and will respect others belief. But I will continue my quest for truth and things that matters and the least I expect to find it is in the net, though it continues to prove its worth by proper use- it reveals a lot.