oh girl
wow, cd, i'm sure you guessed i'd jump at this question. not cause i know but because i wonder. i'm just offering my initial responses for discussion. there's no end-all when this truck gets rolling....
knowing little about Islam, i assume it is similar enough to Christianity to be something that also requires at some point "blind trust." where did the concept of faith come from? is it something better thrown out of all the languages of the world, or is there some common source in us that understands faith (which does require a "leap" but i don't think the leap has to be totally blind), as a concept that holds value?
if there is no heaven and hell but the soul is eternal, then what is there? if there is only this scandalous earth, i've seen (or created) enough hell to believe in the idea and can't say how long i'd like it to go on. forever? never? i honestly am attracted to the idea of free will, our ability to choose, extending beyond this life. in other words, if we are made with the freedom to make our own choices, why would that essential trait of our humaness ( and perhaps of our souls) suddenly disappear when our body is done for. if there is a literal heaven and hell (which i don't really like to think about, really. neither one gets me too excited), who's to say we can't choose one or the other after our death here, and who's to say we're not choosing now, already, as in the way we live our lives? this, is, of course, scary to me because i know i've chosen hell here on earth more than i wish i had. who's to say i wouldn't be stubborn enough and blind enough and untrusting enough to keep choosing it again and again......which fits with your thought, cd, that we must learn one thing before we move on to another lesson.
this is all fairly rational. but throw an idea like Jesus as more than a mere prophet in there and lots of things change. that doesn't mean everything else is thrown out, but it does mean faith has a place somewhere.
please receive my rambles as a sample of my questions and thoughts rather than an attempt at any definitive answer.
-bl
knowing little about Islam, i assume it is similar enough to Christianity to be something that also requires at some point "blind trust." where did the concept of faith come from? is it something better thrown out of all the languages of the world, or is there some common source in us that understands faith (which does require a "leap" but i don't think the leap has to be totally blind), as a concept that holds value?
if there is no heaven and hell but the soul is eternal, then what is there? if there is only this scandalous earth, i've seen (or created) enough hell to believe in the idea and can't say how long i'd like it to go on. forever? never? i honestly am attracted to the idea of free will, our ability to choose, extending beyond this life. in other words, if we are made with the freedom to make our own choices, why would that essential trait of our humaness ( and perhaps of our souls) suddenly disappear when our body is done for. if there is a literal heaven and hell (which i don't really like to think about, really. neither one gets me too excited), who's to say we can't choose one or the other after our death here, and who's to say we're not choosing now, already, as in the way we live our lives? this, is, of course, scary to me because i know i've chosen hell here on earth more than i wish i had. who's to say i wouldn't be stubborn enough and blind enough and untrusting enough to keep choosing it again and again......which fits with your thought, cd, that we must learn one thing before we move on to another lesson.
this is all fairly rational. but throw an idea like Jesus as more than a mere prophet in there and lots of things change. that doesn't mean everything else is thrown out, but it does mean faith has a place somewhere.
please receive my rambles as a sample of my questions and thoughts rather than an attempt at any definitive answer.
-bl
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