Articles of Faith

[azurelunatic]

What I take on faith is that my experiences of the Divine are that, and not hallucination. Everything else can be explained everywhere from pure magic to pure psych/biopsych, but I take the Divine (not the experience of same, but the fact that what I experience is in fact Divine and not just in my head) on faith.

Some people have to take the experience itself on faith. Some people struggle to put a name to it. (I'd struggle if I tried. That's why I don't, not unless I am given a name to go with.)

And it doesn't feel like faith to me. It feels like certainty.

Comments

[onyxrising.livejournal.com]

I believe I've read a Terry Pratchett quote which somehow seems appropriate here. IIRC, its, "Witches don't believe in Gods. That would be like believing in the post man."

[onyxrising.livejournal.com]

*it's
I corrected it, so I'm hoping the grammar bogle will spare me her wrath.

[elance.livejournal.com]

I am almost, but not quite, jealous of your certainty.

[corruptflame.livejournal.com]

It's a good point, though...and to me, it falls in with instinct. When you know, you KNOW. There is no questioning, no doubt, or any need to put a name on it...it just is.

[kdorian.livejournal.com]

*Blink*

Who ever said that faith involved uncertainty? I'll grant I don't move in circles where faith is discussed much, but I've always taken "faith" to mean "not requiring outside proof or evidence", not subscription to something you think might not be real.

*Checks the dictionary* Yes, indeed - b (1): firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2): complete trust"

[azurelunatic]

I was brought up to believe in science something like many people are brought up with religion. I'm not used to being able to believe in things that have no proof without question.

[kdorian.livejournal.com]

It's easier once you give yourself permission to have an irrational 'room' in the brain-house, so to speak. Just don't let the stuff migrate through the rest of the house.

[azurelunatic]

That gets into irrational parent-issues. (Dad was super-paranoid of going crazy. Um.)

[kdorian.livejournal.com]

O_o

My dad used to say it was bad luck to be superstitious, but that was because he liked making people think, the bastard. :)

[azurelunatic]

Heh.

Dad's a really interesting guy, but he has (had?) a bug in the brain about the supernatural, or the ABSOLUTE AND UTTER LACK THEREOF.

The way I heard it, there was this vile teacher-type. Dad decided to test the principles of voodoo, and made a doll. Stabbed the thing in the ankle with a pin. Teacher's ankle broke. This was proof to Dad that the whole thing was bunk and sheer coincidence.

[kdorian.livejournal.com]

I see what you mean about irrational parent issues.

Wow.

My dad doesn't believe in global warming being caused by greenhouse gases - and if you like, he'll give you links to the articles that have caused him to reach that conclusion, none of which are written by right-wingers. I'm not sure I agree (I haven't gotten the links yet), but I know there will be a rational, logical thought process behind it.

Of course, my experiences with my dad have also taught me that rational and logical doesn't always equal right, or fair, or ...