Diary 3/18/2011 at 21:46:09
- Advertisement -
A few short years ago, unlike myself, my very respectable and loyal catholic elder brother, had to consider the possible death of his youngest daughter, when only weeks before her marriage, a large brain tumor was discovered. Not long after that he himself had to confront his mortality face to face with prostate cancer. Able to afford the very best medical care, both 'still' survive. Having paid off the surgeon, I'm sure he says his prayers every night and has a 'God' rational for their continuing existence. But I know through the family grapevine, his 'faith' took a severe battering and rightly so. This taste of hell should have sobered his ideas of God, but not nearly enough.The number of individuals who have completely lost and left their religious faith do to the unexpected tragic loss of a child, partner or other loved one have yet to be counted. No doubt the number is considerable, Charles Darwin being among the more well known of these. Personal tragedies are always a trial of an individuals religious convictions, because they are both inexplicable and contrary to expectations of those with a religious faith and who expect that conviction to have value at such times. It is only when that faith losses the illusion of value, after watching a spouse slowing destroyed by debilitating degenerative illness, or when as my mother once said with her sister dying of cancer, 'I'm all prayed out', to no effect, that the faith spell is often broken or at least becomes 'conditional'. Even confronting great religious hypocrisy and corruption, both individual and institutional, the ongoing sexual abuse scandals of the roman catholic church for example, doesn't seem to be enough for a general questioning of the origins of this ancient and mostly unaccountable institution. Such is the spell religion can hold
over the 'faithful'. But that spell is slowly evaporating in the light of contemporary realities.Whatever war, conflict or other great injustices there may be, if it is possible to keep them at arms length, let someone elses son die on the battle field or see some other house destroyed or repossessed, faith can remain mostly unruffled. But then there are those still rare occasions when the stakes get higher, much, much much higher.When massive natural disaster strikes, and both the religious and non religious, atheist, agnostic, pious and impious, gay and strait, good and the bad, children and adults,
are all simply wiped off the face of the earth without mercy or pity and with it a considerable chunk of civilization destroyed, closing ones mind to the great questions and implications are not so easily avoided. For here is where faith and fate might as well be interchangeable. Where faith is subject to fate and without value, where God, at least the conception of God provided by religious tradition, is exposed as an empty and bitter cup.
- Advertisement -
While those 'professional' religious are well practiced at offering a rational for almost any personal tragedy, as their 'God' conception works in 'mysterious' ways,
large scale natural disasters blow all their good news rhetoric, God loves you, dogma and doctrine, claims of certainty right out of the water. Pictures of demolished cathedrals and churches in Haiti and Christchurch NZ are probably closer to what God thinks of these all too human theological creations pretending to his name. And scientific 'rationalism' which has seeded so much atheism, should also watch it's back. Observing the temples
of their high knowledge and technology going up in smoke, potentially threatening more than either earthquake or Tsunami, should give them pause to consider their own limitations and question whether technological arrogance is so much better than others spiritual vanity, as both are likely leading to more hell on earth than is comfortable. At such times, there are many who retreat into the obscurantism of older tradition, believing longevity is a measure of legitimacy. But tradition is founded in part upon the measure of perception, of the
continuing value of those ideas that underpin it. And when the legitimacy of these founding ideas erodes and is lost, tradition, only designed to defend its assumptions, usually turns into itself, so heavily wrapped in mythologies, and unable to see or question it's own origins. As some measure of authority or deference is usually associated with tradition, knowing when their time is up is problematic. But civilization has only advanced by discarding untenable ideas well past their sell by date, defended by tradition, into it's own dustbin of oblivion. This process of necessary change, of dislodging mankind from those illusions created about himself is called revolution! And we describe that all too bloody and painful story as history.
- Advertisement -
Christianity, her moral authority almost completely rejected, as she continues to propagate ideas the modern world finds irrelevant and divisive, offering nothing new to support any moral or progressive goals, her claims to speak in the name of Christ or God are toothless and like much of the world is in debt for the extravagance of her material facade. Christian institutional forms and their theological foundations start with views, assumptions and prejudices about human nature, truth and God several millennia out of date. Does
theology only exists because nothing has been revealed? Any assumption made by religion and accepted by gullible believers, that God is active in the affairs of our world has not stood the test of time or experience. And institutional wishful thinking doesn't get humanity very far.As mankind stumbles at every approach to addressing fundamental problems facing the planet and our very existence, with aspirations to higher ideals mostly baffled by our own limitations as a species and with materialism the only measure of value and progress, what is and where is wisdom?
If any 'religious' truth is self evident it must be this: as in the beginning it is not God that failed man, it is man who failed God, himself and his fellow man. That is the way of the world. If God is true there must be a living demonstrable proof for faith and one that meets all the criteria of the highest Enlightenment idealism. This radical idea does not contradict the scriptural record. There are too many passages of a direct, evidential character to ignore, pointing towards
the potential for something very great and profound. And that would be a potent catalyst for change and 'monkey-wrench'
to the intellectual gears and vanities of our modern world. A complete rethink of the religious conception handed down by tradition is now very much on the cards and it won't be kind on tradition. For however unexpected and probably unwelcome, the first wholly new interpretation for 2000 years of the Gospel/moral teachings of Christ is spreading on the web. Redefining all primary elements including Faith, the Word, Torah, Baptism, the Trinity and especially the Resurrection. Questioning the validity and origins of all Christian tradition, and
focusing specifically on marriage, love it overturns all natural law ethics and theory, and at stake is the credibility of several thousand years of religious history.
Or in the words of Dante Alighieri from his The Divine Comedy:For as I turned there greed mine likewiseWhat all behold who contemplate arightthat's Heaven's revolution through the skies.
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -
No one of any particular note. Just someone making observations about the world we inhabit and tr looking for solutions and drawing conclusions. 57, married, Mac, cat, sailing, creative, occasionally subversive.
Share Author on Social Media
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author
and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -
by Rob Kall (With membership, you can )
by Martha Rosenberg (With membership, you can )
by Paul Craig Roberts (With membership, you can )
by Ann Wright (With membership, you can )
by Vijay Prashad (With membership, you can )
by Dennis Bernstein (With membership, you can )
by Dr. Betty Martini (With membership, you can )
by Alon Ben-Meir (With membership, you can )
by Rob Kall (With membership, you can )
by William Boardman (With membership, you can )
by Bob Fitrakis (With membership, you can )
by Jim Hightower (With membership, you can )
by Gulamhusein Abba (With membership, you can )
by earl ofari hutchinson (With membership, you can )
by Mark Taliano (With membership, you can )
by Kathy Kelly (With membership, you can )
by John Kiriakou (With membership, you can )
by Ashish Shukla (With membership, you can )
by John Nichols (With membership, you can )
by Caitlin Johnstone (With membership, you can )
by Josh Mitteldorf (With membership, you can )
by Brent Budowsky (With membership, you can )
by Ramzy Baroud (With membership, you can )
by Josh Mitteldorf (With membership, you can )
Posted by Meryl Ann Butler (With membership, you can )
- Advertisement -
Copyright © , OpEdNews512 条评论分享收藏感谢收起赞同 203 条评论分享收藏感谢收起跪求faith大大的fate的百合同人文！凛剑的！谢谢！_百度知道
跪求faith大大的fate的百合同人文！凛剑的！谢谢！
theonceandfuturekingtrickerthanwater梦回阿瓦隆尤其是求《theonceandfutureking》给加分！谢谢！邮箱（最好是简体）...
the once and future kingtricker than water梦回阿瓦隆尤其是求《the once and future king》给加分！谢谢！邮箱（最好是简体）
答题抽奖
首次认真答题后
即可获得3次抽奖机会，100%中奖。
采纳数：15
擅长：暂未定制
不知你还需要否，已发送。很早收的，不知全不全。你还可以去这个帖子看一眼，里面很多精辟的讨论，楼主貌似也可以发文
为你推荐：
其他类似问题
您可能关注的内容
个人、企业类
违法有害信息,请在下方选择后提交
色情、暴力
我们会通过消息、邮箱等方式尽快将举报结果通知您。跪求faith大大的fate的同人文_百度知道
跪求faith大大的fate的同人文
《TheOnceandFutureKing》fate三部曲：《命运降临,与夜同留》《SavingDreams》《梦回阿瓦隆》《远征前奏曲》，《镜中的王样》《ThickerthanWater》、《TheHouseofElroy》、《[Fate同人...
《The Once and Future King》 fate三部曲：《命运降临,与夜同留》《Saving Dreams》《梦回阿瓦隆》《远征前奏曲》，《镜中的王样》《Thicker than Water》、《The House of Elroy》、《[Fate同人文] 平行世界》，《Girl's Talk》邮箱,有多少给多少，来者不拒，谢谢！
答题抽奖
首次认真答题后
即可获得3次抽奖机会，100%中奖。
采纳数：15
擅长：暂未定制
已发送，请查收最近没上网，回应晚了请见谅
链接： 密码：u5c3
1条折叠回答
为你推荐：
其他类似问题
您可能关注的内容
个人、企业类
违法有害信息,请在下方选择后提交
色情、暴力
我们会通过消息、邮箱等方式尽快将举报结果通知您。跪求Faithkasume(Faith.废死）大大的FATE同人文_百度知道
跪求Faithkasume(Faith.废死）大大的FATE同人文
目前只看过《theonesandfutureking》，跪求《命运降临，与夜同留》《SavingDreams》《梦回阿瓦隆》《镜中的王样》和其余的小弟不知道的，废大的博客小弟实在是上不去，在此先谢谢各位...
目前只看过《the ones and future king》，跪求《命运降临，与夜同留》《Saving Dreams》《梦回阿瓦隆》《镜中的王样》和其余的小弟不知道的，废大的博客小弟实在是上不去，在此先谢谢各位大神了，小的的邮箱
答题抽奖
首次认真答题后
即可获得3次抽奖机会，100%中奖。
凝望那绿瞳
凝望那绿瞳
擅长：暂未定制
发了，有几篇但是不全
获赞数：16
可否发我一份，thanks
擅长：暂未定制
已经发了哦！阅读愉快！
哥，你发错了，那个怎么看都是FATE线的剧情啊，我求的是同人文，真心求文啊，能再发次吗？
为你推荐：
其他类似问题
个人、企业类
违法有害信息,请在下方选择后提交
色情、暴力
我们会通过消息、邮箱等方式尽快将举报结果通知您。