Religion is probably the touchiest subject ever to be discovered and then discussed on this blog. It scares me. A LOT. Ive never been 1 for blind faith and as much as I wanna follow based off little to no actual proof but its really difficult for me since the punishment for not having blind faith (in my religion....or the religion I was raised in) is a fiery pit where theres no AC and an abundance of pointy forks. I jus have a problem believing that 1 of all these seemingly insane stories is actually true. I mean Ive seen many laugh at Scientology cause its belief is that an alien fell into a volcano and then had his body scattered all over Earth but how far fetched is that compared to a bearded omnipotent being that knows all and lives in the clouds? Ive gone from tryin to follow all religions (sorry I hate punishment and I wanted to be sure) to following none (Im also hella lazy) but Im still finding my niche. After watching Star Wars I (even) contemplated being a Jedi (since its basically the same thing) but Im afraid of all the days off work I'd lose, Mark Hamil's Bday isnt a holiday.... yet. But seriously speaking I think the main reason Im so nervous is because I know that practically every religion ever is man made and man has some really nerve racking flaws.
The fact that the Bible took HUNDREDS of years to be written sends the most glaring of red flags to me. I mean whose to say the stories werent literally lost in translation, or exaggerated or even more scary under rated! Imagine if Jesus had not only brought 1 man back from the dead but like an entire city, or if Moses split the entire desert in half? That shit is mind blowing! Hence the title, the blind leading the blind. We dont know and those before us didnt know and so on for THOUSANDS of years and even then if they were there or heard it from a friend whose to say thats trustworthy? I mean how many of us have heard a story and gotten COMPLETELY different versions of it? (purple monkey dishwasher) Dont get me twisted, Im not tryin in anyway to put religions down nor say their all crazy (altho all of em do make me wonder, Im lookin at you Jerry Maguire) Im jus sayin the fact that there can be such holes and that scares ME but for those of you who are stable and who believe kudos to you, I jus wish I knew if you were rite or not, the suspense is killing me!
Jus seein the following episode of Recess was enough to fully rattle my religious cage. She thought she saw somethin and dove in fully and believed and got a HUGE following... It was cult-like *shivers*... The hat was pretty cool for real tho, can't front lol
ItsJus2Easy
The fact that the Bible took HUNDREDS of years to be written sends the most glaring of red flags to me. I mean whose to say the stories werent literally lost in translation, or exaggerated or even more scary under rated! Imagine if Jesus had not only brought 1 man back from the dead but like an entire city, or if Moses split the entire desert in half? That shit is mind blowing! Hence the title, the blind leading the blind. We dont know and those before us didnt know and so on for THOUSANDS of years and even then if they were there or heard it from a friend whose to say thats trustworthy? I mean how many of us have heard a story and gotten COMPLETELY different versions of it? (purple monkey dishwasher) Dont get me twisted, Im not tryin in anyway to put religions down nor say their all crazy (altho all of em do make me wonder, Im lookin at you Jerry Maguire) Im jus sayin the fact that there can be such holes and that scares ME but for those of you who are stable and who believe kudos to you, I jus wish I knew if you were rite or not, the suspense is killing me!
Jus seein the following episode of Recess was enough to fully rattle my religious cage. She thought she saw somethin and dove in fully and believed and got a HUGE following... It was cult-like *shivers*... The hat was pretty cool for real tho, can't front lol
ItsJus2Easy
I just got shivers reading this because for the last month and a bit I've been contemplating a religion post, but wanted it to be solid before posting. This can't be mere coincidence. I think we're just sentient beings sharing the same mind but different lives. Seriously though, holy shit lol.
ReplyDeleteLol great minds JPM great minds. I cant wait for your religious post. Its goin to take forever for me to read them all but damned if not excited that its comin :D
ReplyDeletegrrrreeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaattttttttttt post!!! on so many levels! i won't even really try to break it down or anything, just want you to know this is great. good topic. very well-written. kudos, good sir.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dije. I honestly love the video most about this post. Its so eerie lol
ReplyDeleteHey Jel,
ReplyDeleteFaith is tough -- especially faith in our religion (Catholicism) as it demands of us much of what is contrary to the current spirit of the times (and to our own disordered desires). You have been around for most of my life, so you have been witness to my struggles with faith: the intermittent periods of belief and unbelief, the nagging questions, the uncertain answers. Faith has not been easy for me.
In the interest of full disclosure, I recently decided to return to practicing Catholicism; so when I saw that you made a post about faith I could not resist commenting. Before directly addressing your claims I will briefly outline my fundamental epistemological outlook.
There are three sources of knowledge: [1] the senses; [2] reason; and [3] faith. [1] You know that there is a tree in front of your house via the senses; [2] you know that the sun will rise tomorrow via inductive reason (ie, you believe that it will rise based on the previous 8 thousand or so times you have witnessed it rise); [3] and you know that your parents were born in Trinidad and Tobago based on faith (ie, you accept that what they have told you about their life is true based on who they are, viz, trustworthy people).
Nevertheless, I assert that all knowledge is based on assumptions -- assumptions which are accepted via faith. Regarding sense-knowledge, you accept the testimony of your senses based on faith -- faith, because you can be deceived about the existence of the tree in front of your house, just as your mind is deceived about the existence of objects in dreams. Even in waking life we are deceived by our senses, eg, when a pencil appears to bend like rubber when it is shaken gently. Regarding reason, what we accept via inductive reasoning is based on faith because in the case of the sun rising, for example, we make an assumption about the uniformity of natural laws. Clearly, what we accept via faith is based on faith and needs no demonstration; however, what is worth mentioning is that all of you historical knowledge is based on faith, from your knowledge of World War II happening to your knowledge that Columbus sailed to the Americas -- you accept these articles of knowledge based on your faith in historians.
The purpose of the above preamble is to get you thinking about your assumptions regarding knowledge and certainty. Your acceptance of the truth of World War II is based on a similar epistemological foundation to my acceptance of the Resurrection of Christ in the sense that both of us are accepting the testimony of others (viz, historians in your case and evangelists in mine).
[continued below]
I will now directly address your claims:
ReplyDeleteJel: [H]ow far fetched is that compared to a bearded omnipotent being that knows all and lives in the clouds?
Reply: Catholics believe that God is essentially an infinite, immaterial spirit. He may manifest His presence via theophanies (divine visions) but He is not essentially any of these theophanies; for example, He manifested himself to the prophet Daniel as the Ancient of Days (bearded old man), to the apostles as tongues of fire (at Pentecost), and to those who witnessed Christ’s baptism as a dove -- but God is not essentially a bearded old man, tongues of fire, or a dove; nor does He live in the clouds or in any other physical locale, for an infinite spirit by definition is unbounded, and what is unbounded cannot be restricted to any locale.
Jel:I know that practically every religion ever is man made and man has some really nerve racking flaws.
Reply: You believe that every religion is manmade based on what you have accepted as sufficient evidence, but you may be mistaken.
Jel: Imagine if Jesus had not only brought 1 man back from the dead but like an entire city.
Reply: According to Scripture He did: “And behold the veil of the temple was rent in two from the top even to the bottom, and the earth quaked, and the rocks were rent. And the graves were opened: and many bodies of the saints that had slept arose, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, came into the holy city, and appeared to many.” (Matthew 27. 51-53)
Jel: We dont know and those before us didnt know and so on for THOUSANDS of years and even then if they were there or heard it from a friend whose to say thats trustworthy?
Reply: Whether or not we accept the veracity of Scripture is something we all must decide for ourselves based on a thorough investigation of the pertinent evidence; however, Catholics do not believe that Scripture was written based on hearsay, but via divine inspiration; ie, what the writers wrote was directly inspired by God and thus free from all error. If Catholicism taught that Scripture was written based on mere hearsay this would indeed weaken the Catholic claim to Scripture's veracity.
Jel: Im jus sayin the fact that there can be such holes and that scares ME but for those of you who are stable and who believe kudos to you, I jus wish I knew if you were rite or not, the suspense is killing me!
Reply: Me too! In regard to the holes, every religion including Catholicism has things that are difficult to understand due to the feebleness of the human intellect. As for me, I believe so that I may understand, for without faith (whether in the senses, reason, etc.) knowledge is impossible.
When death comes the mystery will be revealed!
Hey Jel,
ReplyDeleteFaith is tough -- especially faith in our religion (Catholicism) as it demands of us much of what is contrary to the current spirit of the times (and to our own disordered desires). You have been around for most of my life, so you have been witness to my struggles with faith: the intermittent periods of belief and unbelief, the nagging questions, the uncertain answers. Faith has not been easy for me.
In the interest of full disclosure, I recently decided to return to practicing Catholicism; so when I saw that you made a post about faith I could not resist commenting. Before directly addressing your claims I will briefly outline my fundamental epistemological outlook.
There are three sources of knowledge: [1] the senses; [2] reason; and [3] faith. [1] You know that there is a tree in front of your house via the senses; [2] you know that the sun will rise tomorrow via inductive reason (ie, you believe that it will rise based on the previous 8 thousand or so times you have witnessed it rise); [3] and you know that your parents were born in Trinidad and Tobago based on faith (ie, you accept that what they have told you about their life is true based on who they are, viz, trustworthy people).
Nevertheless, I assert that all knowledge is based on assumptions -- assumptions which are accepted via faith. Regarding sense-knowledge, you accept the testimony of your senses based on faith -- faith, because you can be deceived about the existence of the tree in front of your house, just as your mind is deceived about the existence of objects in dreams. Even in waking life we are deceived by our senses, eg, when a pencil appears to bend like rubber when it is shaken gently. Regarding reason, what we accept via inductive reasoning is based on faith because in the case of the sun rising, for example, we make an assumption about the uniformity of natural laws. Clearly, what we accept via faith is based on faith and needs no demonstration; however, what is worth mentioning is that all of you historical knowledge is based on faith, from your knowledge of World War II happening to your knowledge that Columbus sailed to the Americas -- you accept these articles of knowledge based on your faith in historians.
ReplyDeleteThe purpose of the above preamble is to get you thinking about your assumptions regarding knowledge and certainty. Your acceptance of the truth of World War II is based on a similar epistemological foundation to my acceptance of the Resurrection of Christ in the sense that both of us are accepting the testimony of others (viz, historians in your case and evangelists in mine).
Damn BG that is a lot to digest and Im goin to take it in parts and thats exactly why Ive been sayin you should get yourself a blog of your own cause that is the definition of droppin knowledge. I appreciate the help in me finding my way. I have to read and re-read your messages in a couple times but I thank you for ur care and message and I'll letcha know how it goes
ReplyDelete