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Break between faith and reason not that great
This weekend, Jon Stewart is holding "a rally to restore sanity" on the mall, two months after Glenn Beck's religion-infused "Restoring Honor" rally. Beck said he was called by God to hold the rally. Now atheist groups are planning to use Stewart's event to promote "reason." Are "reason" and "sanity" the opposite of religious belief? Is taking religion out of the political debate the answer for restoring reason? Or do we need more faith?
One of the mistakes that people make far too often is believing that if one has faith, one has no reason to think.
It is as though they believe that thinking, using the mind that God gave us, would insult God. To believe, they think, means that one puts one's circumstances and dilemmas before God and just wait for God to act.
Nothing could be farther from the truth. In order to be "religious" one does not have to become a zombie, ignoring the gifts that come from this incredible mind that God gave us. Being religious, or having religious beliefs, does not negate the importance of and need for, reason and sanity.
To be sure, having faith in God sometimes seems ridiculous. There is no logical reason to believe, for instance, that God hears the utterances of distressed, troubled people. It makes no sense to think that putting "faith" in an entity one can neither see, touch or hear, is going to bring about good results.
Yet, doing that sustains people, and, when understood, compels and propels people to "keep on keeping on," when all evidence around them would say it would be perfectly OK to give up. The recently trapped and rescued Chilean miners are a good example. They had been stuck in that mine for 17 days with everyone thinking they were dead. What good reason was there for them to believe that 1) someone would find them, and 2) they would be alive when that happened?
And even after they were found, it took something beyond human reason to keep them believing that they would be rescued. That would be faith. Faith acts as an antidote against fear and hopelessness; it makes people "keep on keeping on." When each of the miners came out they thanked God. Some would scoff at that; I do not. I understand.
There are times when faith and reason change positions. Sometimes, faith is the driver, with reason taking a back seat, and sometimes, reason takes the helm with faith bringing up the rear, giving one the necessary "push" to keep on. I wrote in my book "Crazy Faith: Ordinary People; Extraordinary Lives" that having faith is not necessarily exclusively religious in nature. Faith is a state of mind. Some have their faith fueled by belief in God, that is sure, but whomever has this faith is fueled by something other than human reason. Reason demands logic and neat, provable equations; faith defies such logic.
It took faith to believe that humans would ever get to the moon. Reason later supported or fueled the faith, but initially, it took faith. As a matter of fact, knowingly or unknowingly, it took faith to believe that there was something called electricity or that cars could replace horses. Yes, reason began to give shape to the faith, but it was faith that made people even begin the work that would result in such phenomenal discoveries.
It is not an insult to use the minds that God gave us; in fact, I think it is an insult NOT to use those minds, to use reason to move humanity to the highest elevations and possibilities. Trying to understand the origin of God is futile; those who give up on religion because they can make no reasonable connection between the arguments for God and their evidence against God rely on rationality to explain the irrational. I think all of us would like to SEE this God, face to face, and have a conversation. That, apparently, is not possible, and that throws people off and turns people off. The rational mind demands proof that something exists.
That kind of face to face will not happen, apparently, with this God. No, I for one rely on what I think God, and God only, has done. When I look at the beauty of this earth, the vast array of flowers, their splashes of color that no human being made; when I think of how a sperm and egg evolves into a human being, or into any number of the vast species of animals on this earth; when I think of the perfection of our bodies, how we can see, hear and move because of the development of that same sperm and egg, well, I give credit to God.
And then I use the mind God gave me.
There is no contradiction between faith and reason; rather, there is a fine, yet strong connection, a connection which has allowed God's work to be enhanced and improved upon.
By
Susan K. Smith
|
October 27, 2010; 9:05 AM ET
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Posted by: woodstock-41 | October 30, 2010 1:06 AM
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One of my favorite scriptures is found in 2 Timothy 2:7, For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." Having soundness of mind would suggest that we have a God given mind that God wants us to use! Faith is a part of life, even for those who claim not to believe in God. Every time we flip on a light switch we have faith, the light will come on. My favorite is flying, when we board a plane and watch the cockpit door close, we have faith (in a human and science) that the plane will lift off, fly, and land safely. This is reasonable given the many successful flights of pilots and co-pilots and the Bernoulli principle. But if there is turbulence, or some problem, then even the atheist has been know to cast reason aside and will call on a “higher power”! The bottom line for me is yes, God gave me a “sound mind”, I thank Her for it and use it every day to know when to reason my way in or out of situation and when to have “crazy faith” and pray! BTW this was a great answer to a "interesting" question!!!
Posted by: tyson41 | October 28, 2010 6:54 AM
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Faith exists because humans are not fully rational creatures. Sadly, too many religious leaders take advantage of that situation to mislead their followers and too many followers have no idea how fictional many of the stories of their faith are.
If people spent as much time learning to be informed, rational humans as they do listening to religious claims, we could all be better off.
Posted by: david6 | October 27, 2010 2:10 PM
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A fine answer to a stupid question. Who came up with this "topic"?
Posted by: jdwilson | October 27, 2010 12:16 PM
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IN "MATHEMATICS & PROBABILITY'...
HOW To Catch FRANCE, Israel, England and now U.S. in a B I G -- L I E!
Psychologically spakething; Suddenly ALL Before The Elections:
First it started with a FALSE & phony, concocted 'Bin Laden message [WHO is In Fact DEAD; an they know this] message BUT YOU (voting Suckers) DON'T] now
Pleasa Oyevay!
Another BIG LIE!
"Cargo-plane bomb plot alert: w/photos of self-serving explosive devices 'designed to harm US synagogues'" Oye...!??
[Self Serving] BOMBS Found In or near Borack Obama's Home Town... la la, but Obama is Not Afraid to gout on the campaign trail. Oye...!????
Found Bombs at or Near Sinagogues, lalala Oye...!???
CIA Head? Said, lalala... Oye...!???
[Coalition Created] Al Qaida; from YEMEN did it etc.. etc.. OYE...!??
like the IShlami's are really coming at US (Keffirs) All at Once?? as forewarned? Pleazza!
Oyevayzmeer!! Weak Weak weak!
Nice Try OBAMA Admin & Desperado's!
Shame on MEDIA involved!
__
Note: Between this Hour & by Monday There will be More BOMB, TERRORISTS stuff Fed to Unsuspecting Voters!
Maybe Prez Obama will be Assassinated by an "inside-Job" before Tuesday? Now In AMERICA (The 1 We used to know) Anything is Possible!
This Time, Shame on The U.S. Government & CO!
END the lies lies lies! yet More Lies r aComing ye/Yo ways! (not OUR way).
VOTE: GOOD RIDDANCE! BOY/Gal who Cried WOLFE!
VOTE: NO D-E-M-O-C-R-A-P-S Party!
STOP THE LiE's, REVEAL THE TRUTH!
STOP THE LiE's, EXPOSE THE TRUTH!
STOP THE LiE's, REVEAL THE TRUTH!..
__
Remember: PRE- ELECTION -- P-R-O-P-A - G-A-N-D-A
BIN LADEN ids DEAD!
BIN LADEN is DEAD!
BEN LADEN IS DEAD!
BEN LADEN IS DEAD!
America created Him, Now They created other's Bin Ladens??: O' Shame on DEMOCRACY!
Vote: HELL-NO DEMOCRATS! NO To ENGLAND'S QUEENS & KINGS Yoke!
The BRITISH [r the Biggest Trouble Makers on Earth; Not JU's/Israel, Not MUSLIMS!]
VOTE: BRITISH must GO not Come here! Let Them (Includes Australia & New Zealand) Fight the New Bin Ladens & Extinguish their Lamps!
NO MORE USA!
AMERICA 1st!
ENGLAND LAST!
_
POiNT: ISLAM will Defeat ITSELF in near Time:
WE[i] VOTING AMERICANS {The Real JURISTS} Don't Need to see The LIE's Perpetrated by "Democracy's! Current ADMI!?
Their Act & Behavior Is Blasphemous and an Abomination on a National/Conscious Level: Hint: It will surely Boomerang with a Vengeance!
BEHOLD: The Great OIL EMBARGO IS COMING! And Revolution In Many Nations! Thank You OBAMA! Thank You CLINTON's! Thank You PALOSI's, BIDENS, SCHUMER & Evil Officials, aka Satanic VersUS Lovers!
YE art Surely gonna Shoot Selves W/out shooting a Shot. And it will start in Ye/Yo SLEEP! Ye/Yo Will Be talking in Tongues, like the folks of Sodom & Babel did long long ago!