OK, 'Gel, I'll jump in a little on this one -- pardon the somewhat long,
rambling post...
I believe that there is one supreme being who created the universe. That's
faith. There are two many cases of order, plus extraordinary beauty, for me
to accept this all as "chance".
I believe in both creationism and evolution - to me, God created all, and
set up processes by which it would grow. (Like a garden - you can plant a
seed, water, fertilize, watch things grow. And you create bees etc., which
can carry pollen from one flower to another.)
I also believe God created science - the rules of physics and chemistry,
etc. We understand so little of them at this point that who knows whether
understanding or manipulating space/time if something we'll ever be able to
do.
But in terms of the "one right faith" - I don't believe there is one
universal faith (universal as literally for the entire universe). (You may
have seen my previous "31 Flavors" post.)
However, there may very well be one correct faith for YOU (or, none!).
My personal belief is that God is so superior to us that we cannot possibly
"understand" God. I think God both permeates and transcends physical
space/time.
I think of Faith as a belief structure that allows beings to connect to some
facet of God in a way meaningful to them. The only metaphor I can think of
is the blind persons describing an elephant, only much more so.
I may tell you I disagree with your Faith, but I will respect you for having
(or not having) it, as long as you are not using your Faith as an excuse to
hurt. I vehemently oppose wars "justified" by "faith" (which I don't think
they are - that's an excuse). I will not call you "wrong" for disagreeing
with me, but would greatly resent you telling me that I am wrong because I
don't share your belief structure.
Personally, I am a pretty relaxed Reform Jew. I am not at all as observant
of traditions as some on this list. I respect them for their adherence to
their Faith and its tenets, but that's not the right "style" for me. But I
have had so-called born-again Christians tell me to my face that I was
doomed to burn in hell for all eternity because I haven't accepted Jesus as
my personal savior. To me, that's just plain wrong.
My concept of God accepts all forms of well-meant worship, but does not
require them. I think in many ways we need God more than God needs us - we
need a focus for topics beyond our ken, like "life, the universe, and
everything". Will we ever find the Babel Fish? Stay tuned...
Have a great day/week/whatever 'Gel.
-Ben
-----Original Message-----
From: Angel Stewart [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Friday, August 17, 2001 11:23 PM
To: CF-Community
Subject: Indulge me..
All this talk about Religion...and its worth...its end result of War..of
hatred in many instances.
All this passion over something which no one can readily explain..all this
over 'Faith'.
Indulge me for a moment.
What if...don't roll your eyes ;-) ..
What if there is a fact, that someone can see the future. Either while awake
(lets hope they don't have a driver's license or
else can otherwise control this hee hee) , or asleep.
Time, is supposed to be a constant force throughout the universe, as is the
speed of light. In our fantasies we think that
either can be broken, and bent...molded to the will of man (Star Trek, Star
Wars, Alien Sightings, Alien Abductions, Alien
Lovers...errm..well..maybe not the last one but I was on a roll).
But what if there were proof that one of these forces: Time (and thus the
other) could be transmuted..somehow..by the human
condition.
What would that mean for our Religions? What would that mean for our
beliefs?
What if Clairvoyance was real, and there WERE people that fall asleep
tonight, and see in bits and fragments what will occur
tomorrow..or a week from now. Or a year.
What would that mean for the nature of the world about us...the Universe in
which we live?
Think about it.
If the FUTURE can be seen..what does that say about our Present?
What does it mean for our past..(which only exists because we remember it).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
And Indulge me once again.
Many of us are Science Fiction fans. We believe in other lifeforms out
there..that other forms of intelligent life do
exist..MUST exist in the vast expanse of the universe. Some believe that we
on earth have been visited..some belive that they
themselves have been visited ( and personally I don't know why they can't be
some really cute lovely alien women instead of
these odd grey freaks that hover around the bed and...*ahem*...anyways..).
Yet these same people profess Faith. Profess to be of one religion, or the
other. How do these religions co-incide with a
belief of life outside our planet?
If Our Saviour is the Muffin, then are these Alien races damned for not
Knowing the Muffin?
Or instead is it our duty to repeat the horrors of our history and Teach
them the Recipe for the Muffin, whether they like it
or not?
I'm just curious how people deal with this , to me, obvious dichotomy
of..."Faith" (In one thing or the other).
>:-)
-Gel
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