Faith is Alive and (Not) Well
People are not estranged from the concept of faith. In fact, in this postmodern era we live in they are more open to it than they were in the modern age. The problem is that faith, as it is understood today, has very little to do with truth or even with facts. People have abandoned the idea that truth can be known, and they have truly embraced the buffet approach to faith. Pick and choose what you want to believe, based on any old standard you like. Most likely based on how you feel.
People’s beliefs based on anything but fact range from the idea that we are causing a drastic climate change (that is apparently hiding out deep in the ocean since it isn’t appearing in any of the data) to the idea that life-saving vaccines are causing an illness that—while not identified until recently—has been around long before the vaccines they claim cause it. Whatever “works” for you is good for you to believe, and by “works” people don’t mean that your faith has to affect your life at all. It just has to be what makes you feel good.
People need to believe. Faith has been a part of human existence since humans have been around. The need to relate to truth beyond nature is a part of our reality. I would say it is how we have been made. We were made to relate to our Maker. But up until the past Century or so, that faith needed to make sense. It needed to prove itself true over time.
The worst part about all of this faith as feeling, about the way people treat beliefs as a matter of fashion choice—like selecting the type of underwear you wear—is that it makes having a real discussion about a faith that works nearly impossible. And that makes shining the light a challenging task.
People’s beliefs based on anything but fact range from the idea that we are causing a drastic climate change (that is apparently hiding out deep in the ocean since it isn’t appearing in any of the data) to the idea that life-saving vaccines are causing an illness that—while not identified until recently—has been around long before the vaccines they claim cause it. Whatever “works” for you is good for you to believe, and by “works” people don’t mean that your faith has to affect your life at all. It just has to be what makes you feel good.
People need to believe. Faith has been a part of human existence since humans have been around. The need to relate to truth beyond nature is a part of our reality. I would say it is how we have been made. We were made to relate to our Maker. But up until the past Century or so, that faith needed to make sense. It needed to prove itself true over time.
The worst part about all of this faith as feeling, about the way people treat beliefs as a matter of fashion choice—like selecting the type of underwear you wear—is that it makes having a real discussion about a faith that works nearly impossible. And that makes shining the light a challenging task.
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