tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816147226417130386.post8423107544779249847..comments2023-07-17T03:57:39.014-07:00Comments on The Liberal Agnostic Who Could: FaithLisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10268689890561878413noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816147226417130386.post-81020906037746624912010-11-10T08:43:27.196-08:002010-11-10T08:43:27.196-08:00I have to admit, I love Calvin&Hobbes. I own e...I have to admit, I love Calvin&Hobbes. I own every one of their books.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816147226417130386.post-50987913583424945202010-11-09T17:05:59.985-08:002010-11-09T17:05:59.985-08:00Faith, to me, means believing stuff you have no re...Faith, to me, means believing stuff you have no reason to believe. Maybe even believing stuff you have good reason to disbelieve (like a young earth). And that, to me, is not admirable. <br /><br />A few days ago I heard someone talking about Aboriginal peoples. This guy is "spiritual, not religious." So he's talking about the Aboriginals and he says, "When one of them sees a storm, they all start running. Like animals. Even if they live in different areas and haven't communicated with each other, and there's no sign of a storm. And that's because they share a group mind. When one of them knows something, they all know it." <br /><br />Okay. I can't rule out the concept of telepathy. But maybe what's really happening is that Aboriginal peoples are still connected to the land. And like animals, they can sense things about their environment that are missed by industrialized people. So they might not see a storm coming, but they notice changes in the environment -- humidity, animal activity, plants opening or closing accordingly, and so forth -- and to industrialized researchers observing, who have no such connection to the land, it looks like this miraculous thing. <br /><br />What's that saying? Something about advanced enough technology looking like magic? Well, I think it goes the other way, too. So which is more likely? Aboriginals share a mystical Common Consciousness that essentially translates to telepathy? Or is it just that they're especially attuned to their environment because they haven't been stripped of it? <br /><br />This is your basic Occam's Razor situation. And I think most religious concepts go the same way. <br /><br />I try to have an open mind, but I've yet to observe a religion concept that isn't better explained by science. Beautifully explained by science, in fact, which is why I don't feel a lack for not having religion. <br /><br />That's just my take on it. I hear you, though. I feel a constant burning urge to KNOW EVERYTHING and sometimes I feel like it's ruining my life. 'Cause the more I learn, the more things suck -- the more I realize the lies that have guided my life -- not only from religion but from government, reported history, even scientists sometimes. That's pretty exhausting.Chandellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02469510353021344718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816147226417130386.post-86012135901864038842010-11-09T15:53:20.908-08:002010-11-09T15:53:20.908-08:00i don't mean to be all comment-tastic on yr bl...i don't mean to be all comment-tastic on yr blog, but maybe you're just hitting on the best stuff for me this week!<br /><br />so, i was reading this entry and not thinking about faith at all--i was thinking about my classroom, and how i teach my kids to leave in may/june with more questions than answers. i know i've taught them well when they're wondering about the world. <br /><br />there's a lot to be said for leaving things open-ended. should we have closure with knowledge? knowledge is power, it's true, but should we ONLY be seeking power? i know an atheist with a profound wonder about the world, a deep sense of curiosity. and i know a christian chemical engineer who finds a lot of her faith in biology and science. i just wonder, not about you but about the world, about me and us and everyone, why we tend to bow down at certainty and knowledge. <br /><br />the idea of having more questions than answers has really transformed how i teach. i'm pushing my students to be inquisitive. in a capitalistic society, our education "standards" point toward competition and knowing absolutely--and, as a teacher of english, a living language that changes everyday, i can't abide by that.<br /><br />also, to the other entry: on the internet (because i only use the internet, duh) i find that bible gateway and bible tools are good website resources for different versions of the bible and for commentary on context. or at least that's kind of the first place i look when i'm looking for stuff.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816147226417130386.post-19132104552975578232010-11-09T15:35:42.600-08:002010-11-09T15:35:42.600-08:00This is a deep post and I may be completely missin...This is a deep post and I may be completely missing the mark but here are some of my random thoughts.<br /><br />We were so conditioned to equate faith with feeling that when we learned our faith was exploited to violate our trust and thus is not a reliable indicator of truth we shut our feelings off. No more trusting our feelings. But our feelings are our essence, if that makes sense. Not listening to them is like ignoring who we really are.<br /><br />After I stopped trusting my feelings it took me about a year to realize my feelings are pretty important and accurate, they are me, that they are a vital part of human intelligence and if I could separate them from the prior manipulation, they were always dead right. I believe they are a function of our subconscious and the reason we pick up on a "bad vibe" about someone, or have a recurring dream -- about being chased by a serial killer or being naked in public.<br /><br />Another word for feelings may be intuition, and I really do believe it is vital to listen to them/it. And to cultivate it.<br /><br />"My faith, however, needs to be in myself and not in some divine creature I know absolutely nothing about." Bingo. Trust yourself.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com