C.A.
It's hard to respond to that, but I'll try.
First, despite the disbelief you claim, and despite the religious details you dispute, you seem to value many of the same things we "religious" people do. Friends, truth, happiness, freedom, family - I've seen these things in your blogs.
I can only say this next thing because you have already told me that you don't take things personally,... but really I don't think you have as much knowledge as you think you have. Don't laugh.
See, we hear all the time that the first step to knowledge is to know our own ignorance. And we know that the most closed-minded person is probably the one who experience the least amount of learning. In looking for a quote that says it better, I happened on this verse. I'm not sure exactly what it means, but it seems to fit: "And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know" (1 Cor. 8:2).
I don't know you very well at all, obviously, so I can't say how you ended up where you are with the beliefs (or lack of beliefs) that you have, but I honestly think that if you did as much study of scriptures as someone who was thoroughly convinced of their truth, you wouldn't be able to help seeing new things in them.
Luke 12:47-48
" And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more."
I know I find new things all the time, things that further convince me of the truth I have. And instead of surrendering to the doubts I have sometimes, I search for answers to the questions I have. Then when I find them, I get to experience that satisfaction, and the strengthening effect it has on my faith.
I guess my point is that, I don't think you reject nearly as much as you think you do. And the things you do reject...well, I honestly believe you don't understand them fully. In order to merit the endless torment (the idea of which you so abhor), you would need to know the truth AS TRUTH and then reject it. And very few people have known the truth that well. As perfect a knowledge as I sometimes feel I have, I know it is not perfect enough to condemn me if I rejected it.
Anyway, I've got to run, and I don't have time to proofread.
S.E.
SE: I appreciate your thoughts. I probably do value many of the same things as many religious people. H--, religious or not, we're all human so it stands to reason that we will probably have more in common than not. I think things like truth, friends, love and family are things most human beings hold dear. Religion isn't needed for these things.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I freely admit that I don't know everything and I'm ignorant about many, many subjects. Christianity isn't really one of those things though. I used to be a Christian. I've read the Bible several times and read and write about it pretty much every day. Religion fascinates me and while I think there are things of value in any religion, I don't believe in the main concepts - magic trees, Jesus needing to scapegoat for my sins, an all-loving God who creates a hell for people like me. Those things alone would cause me doubt, let alone the many other things in the Bible that don't make sense.