Interesting isn’t it.
My last blog in which I openly discussed my beliefs, ie: my conviction in my understanding that there is no one true god, or collection/selection of Gods, or a creator/supreme being; has created more response than any other blog to date.
It’s a subject that can divides Nations and drive people to war. For me it creates interesting discussion. Well interesting discussion amongst mainly amongst Atheists but generally, from those with a ‘God’, almost no discussion at all. It truly is ‘blind faith’. A ll the conflicting and hypocritical bits in their respective ‘book of rules’; changes in which God; number of different Gods; choices of which bits of the ‘rule book’ to ignore because they no longer suit modern society, etc, become non-issues and are points of zero discussion in the eyes of the ‘faithful’. The Bible, Koran, Torah; in huge chunks (although I accept I have not read all of any of them) will openly marginalise women, oppose homosexuality, encourage the harsh punishment of children and rule breakers etc etc. Ancient religions (which the current faithful dismiss now as ridiculous) encouraged sacrifice, multiple god worship etc.
I find the ability to believe , irrespective of education , science, and the continuous changing and bending of the order of the faith, absolutely fascinating. I have friends who are Buddhist, Creationist, Catholic, Baptist, Pagan, Wicca, Atheists, Agnostics, Humanist. Those I have known since young generally, if they have a ‘God’, have the one indoctrinated in them by their family or school. Many lost their belief about the same time as they realised that Father Christmas was a sentiment rather than a reality.
I don’t ever remember believing in a God; I do remember the pain of Jewish Sunday School and the conflicts in our household to keep up the pretense to avoid confrontation with grandparents/aunts/uncles. My parents may remember differently. I do remember believing in Santa. And the Tooth Fairy. I believed in them because my parents told me they were real and society collectively kept the illusion alive. Then, as I grew older I realised that it wasn’t a ‘lie’ as such but a ‘fable’, a ‘sentiment’ and it retained and still retains a ‘magic’ for the joining together and joy it brings within the western world. But the ‘individual’ , ie: the actual ‘Santa’ is not real. the stories are based around folk-lore and stories passed down the generations as a way to promote a certain behaviour within society.
When our son was a child we raised him to have an open mind. We told him that different people believed in different things and they couldn’t possibly all be ‘right’; that he should listen to all the different views and make his own choice. Whatever choice he made would be the right choice.
One of his main adult contacts was a family with whom we were very close friends. they are a devout family of Creationists and Baptist church goers with two children around the same age as Jason. Jason would learn their beliefs from them. Plus, his school taught him theirs. John and I, being Atheists, generally kept our views to ourselves. Until he asked.
At about aged seven I remember him being very emotional and fearing for us. He asked us if we believed in God and Heaven, we both said ‘no’ , he cried “you’ll see I’m right when you die!”. I guess we will!
Today he is, I believe, an Atheist, but like us he has friends from different and often opposing faiths , all of whom believe blindly that theirs is the only true and righteous path. I enjoy hearing him and his friends ‘philosophise’ (to quote Bill & Ted) on the subject.
I have friends who ‘ pray for me’. Great. It is of no consequence to me or my sense of well-being, but, if it makes them happier, safer or gives them a feeling of being helpful, then that’s great. If it turns out that I’ve got it wrong on the God front, they have my back covered !
I don’t mind what people believe as long as they act morally, and considerately and treat others as they would like to be treated themselves, irrespective of their gender, race, sexuality, colour, age and the like. I love all my friends, family and acquaintances for their individuality irrespective of which set of indoctrinations they follow. I don’t care (unless it affects their happiness negatively) what their sexuality is, their social standing, their wealth, their age, their race. So why would I would I worry about which God. I love them for the way they behave, their actions and their interactions.
To quote Albert Einstein, “A man’s ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.”
Feeling free to comment here thanks! 😀
Blind faith huh?
Here’s is what I would consider to be a more accurate definition of Christian faith…
Being persuaded and fully committed in trust, involving a confident belief in the truth, value, and trustworthiness of God. When it comes to Christianity, ‘faith’ is defined by three separate but vitally connected aspects (especially from Luther and Melancthon onwards): notitia (informational content), assensus (intellectual assent), and fiducia (committed trust). So faith is the sum of having the information, being persuaded of its truthfulness, and trusting in it. To illustrate the three aspects: “Christ died for ours sins” (notitia); “I am persuaded that Christ died for our sins” (notitia + assensus); “I deeply commit in trust to Christ who I am persuaded died for our sins” (notitia + assensus + fiducia). Only the latter constitutes faith, on the Christian view.
Consequently, notitia and fiducia without assensus is blind and therefore not faith. This shipwrecks the egregious canard that faith is merely a blind leap. Faith goes beyond reason—i.e., into the arena of trust—but never against reason. From the Enlightenment onwards, faith has been subject to constant attempts at redefining it into the realm of the irrational or irrelevant (e.g., Kant’s noumenal category); but all such attempts are built on irresponsible straw man caricatures that bear no resemblance to faith as held under the Christian view: notitia, assensus, and fiducia.
(NOTE: “Christ died for our sins” is an example, not the sum, of notitia or informational content.)
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I don’t consider ancient religion to be outdated or “ridiculous”. The metaphors employed in ancient theology skilfully defy intelligent interpretation. The intelligent modern mind finds itself incapable of understanding such a simplistic literary trick. Woe is us!
If my zeitgeist is as it is, atheistic, then wouldn’t my brainwashing most probably entail atheism? How independent is our thinking if it follows most closely what the majority professes? Not something I could justifiably make a fuss about I think 🙂
I was born into a non religious household. My parents, with no belief systems of their own to pass down, sent me to Sunday school for a short while. When I was rumbled for stashing the collection in my coat lining my religious education ended.
I think Einstein is wrong in that quote. What he is describing is a religious basis by another name. It already has a name, no need to try to invent another. His overarching meaning seems correct though. Life is for grabbing this moment. Not putting off.
Take care 😉
M8RK !!!
We have found some common ground!! There is hope for us both 😉 Life is definitely for grabbing for the moments we have . Do not put off your enjoyment and participation in it for a moment
Thank you again for taking time to read and reply. It must be very frustrating having to deal with me!!!
kindest Regards
B
That’s interesting. When I was growing up, talking to another person’s child about religion would have been perceived as extremely hostile in our community. I hate to think what might have happened if someone had tried it. I’m in my late forties and never had children, so I don’t know how it is today, but I suspect it would not turn out well.
I’ve never considered it really. My partner was raised in a Methodist environment but at a relatively young age, came to his own conclusions re religion. I was raised with a bit of a Jewish influence but completely rejected the rules which appeared restrictive,nonsensical and controlling, (as well as obviously written by men to marginalise women!).
I wanted our child to have access to information to make his own choice. Our wonderful friends could answer his questions, share their church culture, as Jason liked to attend the play group at church with their kids. As he grew he then had the ‘information’ he needed to make his own decision based on fact and not bias from our views.
I can’t understand why anyone who strongly believes in their ‘god’ or whatever should have any issue with different points of view being presented to them or their children. the only reason to have a problem would be for fear of their child realising the reality might be something different.
I really have to disagree. Children are very impressionable. Trying to brainwash someone’s child is a very sick thing to do. I guess your kids okay, but that would have upset my parents. We lived in a highly pluralistic community and I think the only reason we all got along is that people understood that there were unstated lines that you just don’t cross. My best friend was Jewish and I attended things like the Purim festival at her temple, but if the Rabbi started trying to convince me to believe in God (I know Jews generally don’t, so this is a highly unlikely hypothetical.) that would have been seen as too aggressive. If I had sought him out and asked questions, I’m sure that would have been fine.
Perhaps, when you said that he came home saying that you and your husband were going to hell, I assumed that was the result of aggressive proselytizing.
Also, our town was about a third Jewish and it’s Christians who usually proselytize, so the situation would probably be Christians trying to convert Jewish kids. That really would have been a nightmare. (I’m neither, btw.)