I'm sorry Ben, but as a Christian, I must tell you that you are doomed to
burn in hell for all eternity because you haven't accepted Jesus as
your personal savior. hehe I'm only kidding. That kind of stuff annoys me
too.
Like you, I don't completely follow the beliefs of "my religion". Despite
being raised Christian, I have kind of gone my own way.
| 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".
Like you, It's awfully convenient how everything has worked out like it has.
It does seem impossible for it to be all chance, but quantum physicists tell
us that on the quantum level there is no order and everything is pure chaos.
How that pure chaos translates to the perception of order on a large scale
is not completely understood, so I'm thinking that there is still some sort
of design behind it all that we don't yet understand. Also, another
question that science has asked, but will probably never be able to answer
is, "Why is there something (meaning the universe) instead of nothing?".
| 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.
With my above comments in mind, I believe that more than God creating
physics, chemistry, and the universe, that God IS physics and chemistry ..
and the universe. Now, after I say that, some people are probably thinking
about like they talk about the universe on Babylon 5. Well, it's not quite
like that for me. I take a more scientific and introspective approach to it
than they do on B5. It may sound like a strange kind of "faith", but it
works for me. I have something greater than I can understand to 'believe
in'. It provides me with some sense of direction and also a code of ethics
based on how I see my relationship as part of, and seperate from the rest of
the universe. It's a little Karma-like. Heh .. that's a far step from
Christianity, huh? :)
| 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.
I don't think I disagree with any faith. I might disagree with what is done
in the name of that faith, but having faith in itself and believing in
whatever gives you meaning and direction in life, I won't ever disagree
with. The way I see it, You want to personify God, fine. You want God to
be 30 different entities, fine there too .. you want your god to be the
invisible purple-nosed, green, elephant-monkey that lives on the rooftop of
the building accross the street from you .. whatever works :) I may not
understand it, but I won't disagree with it. I figure you have as much a
shot of being right as I do. Then again, I don't think there is any "right"
answer, either.
Um .. I did have a point at one time, but I kept getting interrupted here at
work and got a little off track. I'll just stop rambling now.
Todd
-----
I'm not a mental case; I just play one on the Internet. ;)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Braver, Ben" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "CF-Community" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Monday, August 20, 2001 12:08 PM
Subject: RE: Indulge me..
| 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
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