belief that is not based on proof.
I stumbled on a book entitled ''God is Not Great'' at borders on sunday. As usual, I could not resist the temptation to pick it up and flip through, poking at a few lines here and there, itching to get further insights on the mind of Christopher Hitchens, the author.
Topics of this calibre to hold an extremely high value of interest to me. Merely flipping through to get a tiny glance wasn't enough - I just had to read the damn thing. Today was a perfect opportunity to do so. School ended early, around 4-ish, and dad planned to meet me at guitar connection at 7.30 with the intention of repairing a rotten old Roland bass amp given to us and fixing up his acoustic guitar.
This schedule gave me a window of roughly three whole hours. Perfect, I simply had to nip over to Times bookstore at which browsing is highly encouraged, find the intriguing book, and pour over it. (this was the only solution I could think of; I wasn't gonna buy the damn book. no, that requires money...) Curiosity won the growling stomach which was screaming at me to get some food. (I simply bought a donut and peach tea to shut it up. this happens on a regular basis - maybe this is why i'm so horribly skinny.)
I had just enough time to devour the chapters which were of interest to me before it was time to meet dad.
I found Hitchens to be a very well-reasoned writer, actually. Knowing how big a part religion plays in my life, It was amazing how little offence I took to his beliefs, statements, and reasoning. He begins the book by discussing the fact that he was raised in a religious environment, and that even at the early age of nine he began to see some flaws in the arguments of religious believers. He briefly discussed why we believe and argues that until we get over our fear of death, religion will be uneradicable. He ends by saying that he does not want to get rid of religion if it leaves him and his beliefs alone, but that religion is incapable of this.
Before I turn this post into a damn book report, I think I'll simply insert my take on all this right here.
This guy, as good a writer and as 'clever' as he is, clearly misses the whole point of religion in the entire book. He never even mentions the word 'faith,' which is basically, the foundation of any religion in the world. Faith in something means you believe in something. Faith that it's the truth. If you go look up the word in the dictionary, you'll see that Faith is defined as "confidence or trust in a person or thing" or "belief that is not based on proof."
I personally love the second definition. Religion, being dubbed as 'Faith' on numerous occasions, is exactly that. Religion is belief that is not based on proof. Okay, you can have your Bibles and your Korans and call that your proof, but then again, there are so many holes, questions and doubts that come from that. At the end of the day, it's your personal faith; belief that is not based on proof, which keeps you believing and trusting. Humans basically need something to believe in, and for people who think outside of the secular, they want to believe in something much greater than themselves; something which has control over the entire universe, something which explains everything, down to the existance of every single living thing.
It depends on the person, really.
To someone who believes firmly in science and the study of nature, the bible probably sounds damn dumb. The universe was created cause of The Big Bang, not cause of ''the snap of God's finger.'' And what the heck's all this jazz about "Adam" and "Eve?" Didn't the poor people who wrote Genesis ever know about fucken DINOSAURS?
And what about this "Jesus?" What the hell's so good about him? Casting out devils, just so they can reside in PIGS? Now pigs are deemed filthy, and poor muslims are forbidden to indulge in luxuries such as bacon chewing because of this fellow.
Bible stories are really rediculous, even a Brother from the seminary was telling me that. But its not the facts that require our attention, but rather, the point of the whole story, whatever story that may be. Picture Noah's ark. Which idiot would stuff hundreds of animals in the same boat and expect to live? It's stupid, really, but it tells us a story of obedience, and trust in God. That's basically what faith is, innit?
So to everyone who disagrees with the bible or koran or anything in one way or another: go read up the word FAITH, bitch!
I think I've found what I was looking for.
I have faith in my faith.
Weird how such a book can actually help me.
Topics of this calibre to hold an extremely high value of interest to me. Merely flipping through to get a tiny glance wasn't enough - I just had to read the damn thing. Today was a perfect opportunity to do so. School ended early, around 4-ish, and dad planned to meet me at guitar connection at 7.30 with the intention of repairing a rotten old Roland bass amp given to us and fixing up his acoustic guitar.
This schedule gave me a window of roughly three whole hours. Perfect, I simply had to nip over to Times bookstore at which browsing is highly encouraged, find the intriguing book, and pour over it. (this was the only solution I could think of; I wasn't gonna buy the damn book. no, that requires money...) Curiosity won the growling stomach which was screaming at me to get some food. (I simply bought a donut and peach tea to shut it up. this happens on a regular basis - maybe this is why i'm so horribly skinny.)
I had just enough time to devour the chapters which were of interest to me before it was time to meet dad.
I found Hitchens to be a very well-reasoned writer, actually. Knowing how big a part religion plays in my life, It was amazing how little offence I took to his beliefs, statements, and reasoning. He begins the book by discussing the fact that he was raised in a religious environment, and that even at the early age of nine he began to see some flaws in the arguments of religious believers. He briefly discussed why we believe and argues that until we get over our fear of death, religion will be uneradicable. He ends by saying that he does not want to get rid of religion if it leaves him and his beliefs alone, but that religion is incapable of this.
Before I turn this post into a damn book report, I think I'll simply insert my take on all this right here.
This guy, as good a writer and as 'clever' as he is, clearly misses the whole point of religion in the entire book. He never even mentions the word 'faith,' which is basically, the foundation of any religion in the world. Faith in something means you believe in something. Faith that it's the truth. If you go look up the word in the dictionary, you'll see that Faith is defined as "confidence or trust in a person or thing" or "belief that is not based on proof."
I personally love the second definition. Religion, being dubbed as 'Faith' on numerous occasions, is exactly that. Religion is belief that is not based on proof. Okay, you can have your Bibles and your Korans and call that your proof, but then again, there are so many holes, questions and doubts that come from that. At the end of the day, it's your personal faith; belief that is not based on proof, which keeps you believing and trusting. Humans basically need something to believe in, and for people who think outside of the secular, they want to believe in something much greater than themselves; something which has control over the entire universe, something which explains everything, down to the existance of every single living thing.
It depends on the person, really.
To someone who believes firmly in science and the study of nature, the bible probably sounds damn dumb. The universe was created cause of The Big Bang, not cause of ''the snap of God's finger.'' And what the heck's all this jazz about "Adam" and "Eve?" Didn't the poor people who wrote Genesis ever know about fucken DINOSAURS?
And what about this "Jesus?" What the hell's so good about him? Casting out devils, just so they can reside in PIGS? Now pigs are deemed filthy, and poor muslims are forbidden to indulge in luxuries such as bacon chewing because of this fellow.
Bible stories are really rediculous, even a Brother from the seminary was telling me that. But its not the facts that require our attention, but rather, the point of the whole story, whatever story that may be. Picture Noah's ark. Which idiot would stuff hundreds of animals in the same boat and expect to live? It's stupid, really, but it tells us a story of obedience, and trust in God. That's basically what faith is, innit?
So to everyone who disagrees with the bible or koran or anything in one way or another: go read up the word FAITH, bitch!
I think I've found what I was looking for.
I have faith in my faith.
Weird how such a book can actually help me.
posted by bong at 9:33 PM
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