Lately, I've been reading the posts on the site of an African-American Atheist."Why would you read what a non-believer has to say", some fellow Christians might ask.
But my reasoning is that many "Christians" have failed to provide me with answers to many questions asked.
Many "Christians" have failed to live up to their promise of living a Christ-like life.
Maybe a non-believer has a better perspective from the outside than I do from within.
The above quote ("We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal...") is often cited as an example of our country's intentions.But how often has our country failed to live up to such a simple concept?
Were our founding fathers lying?
Matthew 22: 37-39 states; "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. Love thy neighbor as yourself.
All the law and the profits hang on these two Commandments."
"But if these be the only two requirements to lead a Holy life - what use is there for the rest of the book ?", was a (paraphrased) question by one of the commenters.
My answer (in short) was that they were just histories and analogies and metaphors for people's attempts at living such a life.
Does this mean that the Bible is infallible, or that the Bible lies?
Neither, it just shows that the Bible is an attempt at communicating the most basic truths to a complex system of cultures.
It just shows that man has the ability to corrupt (for a time) the incorruptible.
Q - Which weighs more; 16 ounces of gold, or one pound of rocks?
A - They are the same. (But this is not correct. Gold is measured in Troy ounces (31.103 grams) while the rocks would be measured in standard ounces (28.350 grams).
This demonstrates that the level of one's knowledge can infer a different meaning.
Q - Would you take one billion British Pounds or two billion US Dollars?
A - Since the exchange rate of Pounds to Dollars is less than 2-1, I'd take the Dollars. (But this thinking is also wrong. One Billion in America is one thousand million, while one billion in England is one million million.)
Again, one's level of understanding can influence their ability to make a more profitable decision.
But let's take the position of non-believers.
What if the Bible is just an amalgamation of moralities and truths handed down from one era to the next?
What if the Bible cannot be taken as fact?
Would that make any difference?
Would we revert to atavistic views of selfishness and greed? (Okay,we're already doing this.)
Is the belief in something better, even if that belief system is a lie, required for us to do better?
Would we be better off if we didn't have a shared system of what is right and what is wrong?
Do these "lies" help our society to function?
In fact, don't we already benefit from our faith in what we don't test?
When one starts one's car;
Do they take the engine apart to inspect each component?
Do they run a test on the wiring system to make sure that all connections are made?
Do they test and re-test the cut of the key before putting it in the ignition?
Most people don't.
Most people have faith that things will work just as they (almost) always have.
It seems that the only thing required, for even the simplest actions, is faith.
But from where is this faith learned?
3 comments:
I don't think there is anything wrong with listening to another person's point of view. If the truth is what you seek then seeking it might take you out of the company of the people who fall back on faith as the reason they blindly believe.
The Bible and all religious books are the original law givers of the land. It is the original population control mechanism and without it you would have all these rogue beliefs taking center stage. Just look at what's happening in the US as the religious laws are ignored. We got all kind of real wrongs being applied to laws backed by money and popularity.
They provide guidance for people to strive to be civilized. Without it the morals of the ghetto, the rich, the outcasts and those with evil intent will gain a big foothold in the country. This foothold in the end will destabilize the running of the company. This is why the government does not stop religion and it's leaders. They know laws by theirselves will never be enough to make the average man stop. But if you say it's from GOD and you associate shame with it then the majority of people will keep the rogues in line!
Have you read C.S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity." Sounds right up your alley.
I think a general problem with holy books is people's forgetting how we got them and not being open to the continuation of that process.
@FreeMan - Probably one of the first controls (as explained in that video) used by one group to subjugate another.
But true religion (not the institutions that we see on TV today) is about truth.
IMO - If one seeks the truth, that thruth is the only true religion.
@ brohammas - C.S. Lewis? Not since the Narnia books as a kid.
But even those eluded to a larger (but more simple) truth.
That's why I think Star Wars, The Matrix and The Watchmen are great examples of analogies that often pop up in popular culture that attempt to explain the affects and effects of religion.
Post a Comment