me skeptic scholar
skepticism is good, yes. i can tell you where it leaves me. at times it leaves me wishy-washy, sure of absolutely nothing, but most of the time i hope it leaves me still seeking, hoping the verse is true that says "search for me with all your heart and you shall find me."
my favorite christian writers are the ones who openly admit their many doubts because i say, yes, this man or woman is honest and worth listening to. (Anne Lamott, Philip Yancey, Frederich Buechner, to name three) Buechner has a book called Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC. it's just a big dicitionary of terms. he defines agnostic as "some people all of the time and all people some of the time." i've explained agnosticism recently as the attitude that says If i can't prove anything i won't believe anything, which reminds me of Life of Pi, of course and the question of whether believing something is better than believing nothing. is having faith better than having no faith?
the truth is, sometimes adherring to a faith seems to cripple me, it seems to put a boundary around my actions that i'm fearful to break through. (and like you wrote, Carla, my parents' ideas about faith help create this fear to leap out into the world exactly as i wish). i think when i feel this way, i'm far from understanding divine love. and at other times, i think i would drown and suffocate in this world, actually die of fear if i didn't have a belief i could call on someone or something other than myself for help and love.
my favorite christian writers are the ones who openly admit their many doubts because i say, yes, this man or woman is honest and worth listening to. (Anne Lamott, Philip Yancey, Frederich Buechner, to name three) Buechner has a book called Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC. it's just a big dicitionary of terms. he defines agnostic as "some people all of the time and all people some of the time." i've explained agnosticism recently as the attitude that says If i can't prove anything i won't believe anything, which reminds me of Life of Pi, of course and the question of whether believing something is better than believing nothing. is having faith better than having no faith?
the truth is, sometimes adherring to a faith seems to cripple me, it seems to put a boundary around my actions that i'm fearful to break through. (and like you wrote, Carla, my parents' ideas about faith help create this fear to leap out into the world exactly as i wish). i think when i feel this way, i'm far from understanding divine love. and at other times, i think i would drown and suffocate in this world, actually die of fear if i didn't have a belief i could call on someone or something other than myself for help and love.
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