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Even into the shadows.
Mar. 10th, 2011 12:32 pmStill waiting for guesses about the inspiration behind Rebbe Hilah (no fair sharing if you already know, Lightning Age veterans on my friendslist), so I think I'll post about something different today. The number of book reviews I intend to post is stacking up, and the LARP work has put me quite a bit behind on my Hellion Prince quota and other writing goals, but with my cold faded and the caffeine kicking in, I think that should be able to be handled in good time.
I've been wanting to make a post about religion for quite some time, but I'm not sure exactly what I want to say. Lately I've been spending a lot of time over on Slacktivist and Tony Jones' Blog, lurking, but doing a lot more thinking than usual about what my faith means to me, how I practice it, why hold to it.
I am a Christian. This always surprises people -- Christians, who don't see my behavior fitting into the framework they expect from fellow Christians; atheists, who seem to think I should be smarter than that; pagans, who expect intolerance from a Christian and tend not to find it. I am heterodoxical and probably heretical, though, and that hasn't surprised anyone so far. I firmly embrace Liberation Theology, which speaks to me about the relevance of faith in the world in ways other theologies do not. Until recently, I was unfamiliar with the term Christian Universalism, but if this is a fair sample of it, I think it's fair to say I'm a Universalist. I believe in the words of the Gospel. I'm not a fan of Paul. I do not take Revelations or much of the Old Testament anything close to literally. I find my scripture in strange places -- both The Symphony of Science and All You Need Is Love wake in me the same sort of spiritual reverence I find in my favorite Psalms, and express many sentiments that I would accept as Truth (I was going to phrase this differently, but I can never keep my philosophical -ologies straight. Ontology? Epistemology?) (also, there are some portions of the Symphony of Science that I reject with the same distaste as I do the places where Paul contradicts the Gospels -- DAWKIIIIIIIIIIINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!).
I don't just look to one source for my Truth, I guess, is the root of what I'm trying to say there. I love the attitude of Judaism, where I see a sense of an ongoing dialogue with God, in which humankind has a speaking part -- Christianity's script seems to have written that out. I love the (possibly misunderstood on my part) Baha'i notion that emanations of the divine have spoken to us all through history, in modes that were appropriate for cultural context and contemporary understanding. I love the Jesuit focus on education. I want to learn more about Sikhism, because I have heard and read things there that speak to me as well.
And if tomorrow I were to discover that there was no God, no soul, no supernatural, I don't think any of that would change. My God is ethical, and the ethics and emphasis of my faith are on works. Despite my occasional attendance at the Lutheran church where I am a member, it is central to me to remember that faith is shown through works. That's also the reason why I don't proselytize or evangelize in a way that most Christians tend to recognize -- as the song says, I believe the best way to evangelize is to try and do as much good as I can in the world, however I can, and just now and then remind people of what informs my actions.
And in that same vein, the notion that my ethics must stand as valid in this world despite the existence or nonexistence of the divine... if people are doing good in their lives, I believe their actions are in harmony with the divine, however they or I might define it, and there would be no point in preaching to them. They don't need anything I've got. What terrifies and concerns me are the people who insist that morality comes from divinity alone -- that without God there is no true moral foundation. What I hear when people say that is that they do good only because they fear punishment for evil, and if they lost their faith -- a faith that already looks tenuous to me -- they would find no reason to be anything but selfish and self-serving.
I don't want to be like that. I don't want to believe out of fear, but out of hope. It's true that I fear nonexistence, that I desperately want to believe in a world after this one where a part of me will persist -- but if such a place does not exist, that only makes my actions more important and more vital now. It means nobody's looking over my shoulder, ready to right my mistakes, or do good works in my place. It means that my only hope of immortality is what good I can contribute to the world. It strengthens my commitment.
Isn't it a better world, in which doubt, ambiguity, and uncertainty strengthen our faith rather than weaken it?
I'm going to keep thinking about this. And if it's interesting to people, Ill keep talking about it, too. What do you think?
I've been wanting to make a post about religion for quite some time, but I'm not sure exactly what I want to say. Lately I've been spending a lot of time over on Slacktivist and Tony Jones' Blog, lurking, but doing a lot more thinking than usual about what my faith means to me, how I practice it, why hold to it.
I am a Christian. This always surprises people -- Christians, who don't see my behavior fitting into the framework they expect from fellow Christians; atheists, who seem to think I should be smarter than that; pagans, who expect intolerance from a Christian and tend not to find it. I am heterodoxical and probably heretical, though, and that hasn't surprised anyone so far. I firmly embrace Liberation Theology, which speaks to me about the relevance of faith in the world in ways other theologies do not. Until recently, I was unfamiliar with the term Christian Universalism, but if this is a fair sample of it, I think it's fair to say I'm a Universalist. I believe in the words of the Gospel. I'm not a fan of Paul. I do not take Revelations or much of the Old Testament anything close to literally. I find my scripture in strange places -- both The Symphony of Science and All You Need Is Love wake in me the same sort of spiritual reverence I find in my favorite Psalms, and express many sentiments that I would accept as Truth (I was going to phrase this differently, but I can never keep my philosophical -ologies straight. Ontology? Epistemology?) (also, there are some portions of the Symphony of Science that I reject with the same distaste as I do the places where Paul contradicts the Gospels -- DAWKIIIIIIIIIIINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!).
I don't just look to one source for my Truth, I guess, is the root of what I'm trying to say there. I love the attitude of Judaism, where I see a sense of an ongoing dialogue with God, in which humankind has a speaking part -- Christianity's script seems to have written that out. I love the (possibly misunderstood on my part) Baha'i notion that emanations of the divine have spoken to us all through history, in modes that were appropriate for cultural context and contemporary understanding. I love the Jesuit focus on education. I want to learn more about Sikhism, because I have heard and read things there that speak to me as well.
And if tomorrow I were to discover that there was no God, no soul, no supernatural, I don't think any of that would change. My God is ethical, and the ethics and emphasis of my faith are on works. Despite my occasional attendance at the Lutheran church where I am a member, it is central to me to remember that faith is shown through works. That's also the reason why I don't proselytize or evangelize in a way that most Christians tend to recognize -- as the song says, I believe the best way to evangelize is to try and do as much good as I can in the world, however I can, and just now and then remind people of what informs my actions.
And in that same vein, the notion that my ethics must stand as valid in this world despite the existence or nonexistence of the divine... if people are doing good in their lives, I believe their actions are in harmony with the divine, however they or I might define it, and there would be no point in preaching to them. They don't need anything I've got. What terrifies and concerns me are the people who insist that morality comes from divinity alone -- that without God there is no true moral foundation. What I hear when people say that is that they do good only because they fear punishment for evil, and if they lost their faith -- a faith that already looks tenuous to me -- they would find no reason to be anything but selfish and self-serving.
I don't want to be like that. I don't want to believe out of fear, but out of hope. It's true that I fear nonexistence, that I desperately want to believe in a world after this one where a part of me will persist -- but if such a place does not exist, that only makes my actions more important and more vital now. It means nobody's looking over my shoulder, ready to right my mistakes, or do good works in my place. It means that my only hope of immortality is what good I can contribute to the world. It strengthens my commitment.
Isn't it a better world, in which doubt, ambiguity, and uncertainty strengthen our faith rather than weaken it?
I'm going to keep thinking about this. And if it's interesting to people, Ill keep talking about it, too. What do you think?
