tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3267597063062817567.post1736923038524780706..comments2023-12-24T00:14:00.742-06:00Comments on Cup O' Joel: Letter to a Christian FriendUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3267597063062817567.post-46867336372495387272010-09-26T01:31:15.911-05:002010-09-26T01:31:15.911-05:00Agnosticism is not antithetical to faith. It is at...Agnosticism is not antithetical to faith. It is at the core of faith. Pascal was a cynic, but the argument has been played to me over the years as a foundation for belief. Believe or perish.<br /><br />But what is believe? Believe is not faith. Believe is a profession of allegiance to a belief system. Adherents of these belief systems deride non-adherents as unbelievers, mistaking God for precepts attempting to define god. <br /><br />Such tribal urges are fundamental to civilization, and have manifested in the development of religion and the blood shed in support of it. The folly of man is that we can understand God, yet we must offer the illusion that we do so we can teach our children and harass our neighbors. The protection of these illusions has created wars, destroyed families, and seeded multi billion dollar lawsuits over the abuse of children.<br /><br />True faith accepts and embraces unbelief. True faith acknowledges that the only thing we know about God is that we know nothing about God. True faith accepts the consequences of not knowing our fate, but living ethically for the sole sake of manifesting goodness. True faith needs no lies to embellish or sell God. True faith accepts the humility inherent in the human experience.<br /><br />There are those that say we cannot exist without God. While that may be true, it's a mistake to equate God with religion. I say, and I paraphrase Lennon, imagining no religion is not imagining no God, it is imagining no bullshit.<br /><br />Agnosticism is a stigma suggesting uncertainty. Well, I must beg some pardon. Just because I'm an agnostic doesn't mean my faith doesn't run deep and wide. But I am certain I do not know the nature of God, and in this certainty I experience God.DOTDOThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16960965978489650636noreply@blogger.com