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Nekromanda — Stamp: Request - Religion vs Faith
Published: 2012-05-14 07:19:27 +0000 UTC; Views: 808; Favourites: 40; Downloads: 4
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This is a request for *Tale-Spinner-Gypsy .She provided some explanations for her stamp requests, so here's her description :
"In the last couple of years, I've been getting the sense that religion and faith are not the same thing. To me, faith is the pure and unsullied belief in what is and in what will be. It requires no proof, and it needs no conformity -- unlike religion, which more and more appears to be all about conformity without much sincerity to the action. It is the regimen and the routine that you adhere to in order to convince OTHERS of your faith, but not really yourself. The chief difference, I find, is that faith often requires a certain amount of flexibility in order to function because the world is so much bigger than just one way of looking at it...whereas religion leaves little room for anything more than black and white.
Kind of...KIND OF...like what this guy was saying here .
To clarify for you, I'm no religious nut -- I'm an agnostic and a heathen. Nevertheless, who am I to want to deprive those around me of their comfort when they can't find it any other way? It's only when that comfort is used more as a shield against others than as a blanket to keep warm that I get annoyed. So, in the end, it can be said that I will never berate what you believe in at your very center...but your religion is still one great big target I won't ignore.
"BG: [link]
Temp: [link]
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Comments: 22
I say go right ahead. People need to really learn not to give a fuck! As long as their is something you like there will be someone who doesn't like it.
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Faith is the only thing that will persevere in the long run. Trust me, I've had everything lost, including my own name, but faith was the only thing I had to keep me strong. It's the only thing they can never take away from me.
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Well I don't criticize faith, except in a few cases.
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Lol no worries, I enjoyed reading it!
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Thank goodness. >_> I seem to be overloading your stamps this week with my two cents apiece.
I blame you for having such a thought-provoking string of messages for us.
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Once again, love the color. The video in the link was really nice, too. Definitely meant from the heart, and I have to respect someone with that kind of sincerity.
I'm of the belief that we were created with three amazing gifts to set us on our way: logic, intuition, and common sense to bridge the two.
Intuition covers what I would consider 'faith.' It has no words, only feeling and emotion. The part of you that 'senses' the Divine, the Creators, God, what have you. I think humans have always had that, and that's why so many of our cultures had SOME sort of creation/genesis stories. They FELT that connection, that divinity, and used logic to try and sort out exactly what it was, coming up with various deities, stories, fables, etc. So, in a sense, logic covers what I would consider 'religion.'
Many Christians I've met have the two main elements: Religion (which includes 'logical' elements like holy texts, the commandments, churches, officials like the Pope, etc.) and Faith (the 'intuitive' aspects of genuine belief in God, which is unshifting, regardless of logical dissuasion.) I think the key, though, and something many lack, is the balancing element of common sense.
So many fundamentalists want to take the Bible literally, without taking into context the era, the contradictions, the word of Christ, whom proclaimed that while the Old Testament was accurate, he was there to help the people understand it in accordance with the times. Those are often the ones that preach hate or discrimination or selective reading/interpretation of the Bible.
Then you have the people who just believe with all their heart, and want everyone else to believe, even if they don't have logical arguments why you should. You just SHOULD, because you should be able to feel God in you. Occasionally those are the really pushy ones, who want to pray for complete strangers, or chase you down outside of grocery stores and whatnot. Usually, though, they're more about love, and that's not NEARLY so bad.
My favorites, the ones I respect the most, are those with the balance. They believe wholeheartedly. They use the Bible as a tool for introspection, understanding the context in which it was written. They can debate intelligently without taking personal offense. They aren't afraid to stand up for what is RIGHT within their faith rather than what is 'CORRECT' by the terms of their religion.
For example, Mr. Rogers (yes, that one) was an ordained Presbyterian minister. He never mentioned religion on his show, but he was publicly criticized by other ministers for not belittling homosexuals and non-Christians. He apparently turned to said homosexuals and non-Christians and said, "God loves you just the way you are."
Now THAT man had Balance.
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I loved how Mr. Rogers respected everybody. 
I enjoyed watching his show as a child.
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Of all the kids' shows my daughter and I have watched, we love Mr. Rogers the best. We found out (accidentally) that she'll watch at least 6 hours' worth without budging from her chair. And it's so sweet: she'll wave goodbye to him every time, and tell him she loves him too.
I really, really hope I never have to tell her that he passed on... >_>
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I haven't watched Mr. Rogers in years but I still remember always being so happy when our TV (which only had 3 channels) would manage to get the channel his show was on.
If I ever have kids I'll be sure to have them watch his show. ^^
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I would strongly recommend it to anyone. The pace is just perfect for younger children. My daughter has a speech delay and anxiety, but since she started watching, she's become so vocal, wanting to talk about each episode, and the characters, and each time Mr. Rogers went to a different location.
The other day, she saw a jet trail, and mistakenly thought it was a comet trail, and proceeded to tell me all about when there was a comet in the Land of Make-Believe and King Friday wanted to own it. It was the sweetest thing!
Seriously, even if just for the nostalgic value, a bunch of his episodes are here: [link] I was amazed at how much I remembered, and how much MORE the messages mean to me now.
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I very much like your beliefs, I have to say, haha
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I like my beliefs, too!
I must admit, I've had a lot of practice explaining myself recently on my YouTube series on witchcraft. Surprisingly, just in the process of making the videos, writing up all the things I want to say, etc., I've been learning more.
Mr. Rogers has become my hero, and my daughter's as well. This man dedicated his entire adult life to children's television because when he saw TV for the first time, he hated it. He felt that television was an amazing tool that could reach out to touch and educate children without the constant bombardment present in the current string of cartoons. He even talked Congress into doubling their funding. You should check out the YouTube vid sometime.
However, for true trivia, check this out: one of the operators for the Trolley during the 70's was Michael Keaton. That's right. Trolley was driven by the Batman. I've never seen that little red vehicle the same since.
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"I guess I'm just too logical to go with the 'God/dess did it' approach." This is so me, haha. I wanted it so badly to be able to fully throw myself into the belief system of Wicca, but I wasn't being true to myself. I still yearn for that blind faith sometimes, but I just can't bring myself to just let go of all reason for the sake of feeling better.
That's so cool about Mr. Rogers. I will have to check out the video of him talking to Congress. And that's pretty damn cool about the trolley, lol! XD
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You gotta admit, the Goddess creation story is just as ludicrous as the Judeo-Christian one. The whole 'the rivers were Her Hair, and the Mountains were her Breasts, and the Valleys her--" NO. Just NO. I don't wanna think about it. And that Mother/Child/Lover thing with the Sun God doesn't fly with me either. If I rejected Genesis on the basis of fantasy and inconsistency, why should I accept the Earth Goddess story, when it's full of just as many fantastical elements?
I thought maybe I was atheist for a while, rejecting all gods. Then I thought maybe I was just agnostic, because I still felt certain things, so I took the Buddha's stance: there's no point in debating whether there's an afterlife, etc. because no one's been there and back, so it's all conjecture.
Deism finally seems to be the thing for me. I think there's plenty of evidence of a higher order or beings or whatever. Deism allows me to be spiritual, and paganism gives me an avenue to fulfill my potential as part of the Universe.
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Sorry for the late response - I've been on and off the computer the last day and a bit XD
I do agree with you, the Goddess creation story, as well as the one you mention with the god and goddess, sure it's very creative and interesting, but I do agree that the whole idea is just silly to me. I read something once on a website where someone was talking about being a Pagan Atheist - they mentioned that they didn't like how it seemed like some Pagans were just substituting "Goddess" for "Jesus," and I couldn't agree more.
I love Paganism, I have a very, very soft spot for it, haha. I believe that we're all connected, and I do consider myself spiritual, even if I am an atheist.
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Hmm. I'd never considered using a Goddess/Jesus switcharoo sort of thing. I guess I can see that, for some of the pagans I've met.
Honestly, some of the pagans I've come across over the years have been just like some of the Christians I've come across. Paganism has its share of holy rollers, Wiccabees (wiccan wannabes), posers, militants, hippie types, Goddess-freaks (huh, I was trying to parody Jesus-freaks, but it looks weird), and what I call the poor Rede-ers: those that insist that their Way is the Right way, and you're doing it wrong, never mind that part about 'do as ye will.' Sounds pretty similar. Nigh on deja vu, in fact. >_>
If I had to briefly define my own beliefs . . . I couldn't. I tried for YouTube, and still ended up with eight and a half minutes. But, if you're interested: [link] Otherwise, suffice it to say that it's a mix of deism with a touch of paganism, Buddhism, and Tao.
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Sure! I'll be sure to watch it when I get a chance to - in the meantime, I just created a brand spankin' new group, focused on debate and stuff of that nature... I'm just wondering if you'd be interested in joining? If so, the group's called #inDISPUTE
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