Posted by fachad on September 8, 2002, at 1:31:39
In reply to Christianity... easy way out?, posted by madison88 on September 7, 2002, at 19:06:35
>Those of you who are Christains, how can you be sure that you have choosen your faith based on your own judgement and not society's dictation?
Well, that IS the big question. I started thinking about that one in my late teens ended up agnostic. I took the question to be the most important question in life, and spent my college years studying philosophy.
I specialized in Epistemology, which is the branch of philosophy that addresses how we know what we know, what knowledge is, what truth is, and how you distinguish truth from falsehood. In the end, I concluded that there is no way to choose one faith over another based on empirical evidence or rational analysis. So any choice is purely arbitrary.
This is great, as long as people keep that in mind. The problem is when people treat religious doctrines like they were literally true.
I honestly don't see how anyone can seriously consider this question, with an open mind and true self honesty, and come out anything other than agnostic. That's not to say they won't have faith or spirituality - just that they won't insist that it's the "only true religion".
> I believe that there are numerous ways to live a spiritual life. Most choose Christianity in American society. It just irks me that people speak of Christainity as "the way," the "narrow path," the only way to live a healthy life. People such as Ritch say it comes down to their gut feelings (hope I am not putting words in your mouth) when they try to explain why they believe in God. I have great respect for those who base their spirituality on such a basis.
>
> Who I don't have respect for are those who choose to believe in Christainity because it is the most widely socially accepted belief system, because it is what you were taught was the truth growing up. Those of you who are Christains, how can you be sure that you have choosen your faith based on your own judgement and not society's dictation? For those of you who know nothing about any other religion, how can you say you have "found the way" when you haven't even looked?
poster:fachad
thread:882
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faith/20020715/msgs/886.html