FAITH, HOPE, CHARITY & ALL THAT MALARKEY

OR A TELEVANGELIST’S CREED

HE HOPES HIS AUDIENCE HAS FAITH AND WILL BE OVERLY CHARITABLE

What is faith? Here are a few definitions taken from various places. Faith is a belief in, devotion to, or trust in somebody or something, especially without logical proof. It can also be a system of religious beliefs, or the group of people who adhere to it.

"Faith may be defined briefly as an illogical belief in the occurrence of the improbable."
- H. L. Mencken

Faith does not solely make reference to an aspect of religion or the Bible. In fact, faith was not a word until sometime after the bible was written. We all have faith that the mailman will deliver our mail, and most of the time, that our alarm clock will awaken us each morning, or that our wife will have supper on the table when we get home. It implies a certain amount of trust or confidence, that barring any complication, the wife will greet us at the table with a kiss and a smile.

But, of course, here I’m referring to the biblical use of the word, where faith is the basic ingredient of most religions, more so in some than others. Faith, for me, never came easy and maybe that’s why religion was hard for me to swallow. Especially the deep seated blind faith Christians have.

“Faith in oneself is the best and safest course.”
- Michelangelo

Sheep is an appropriate symbol for a religious following. They blindly do whatever and go where ever their Sheppard leads them. This brings happiness to the flock. To some, faith is happiness and that is a good thing. If happiness is all that one seeks, follow your Sheppard and put your trust and belief in him. Throw logic to the wind. It’s obvious that proof and material evidence means little. It’s a lot easier to follow than to lead.

“Faith means belief in something concerning which doubt is theoretically possible.”

_ William James

Faith is belief in a mythical entity that lives in the clouds and promises that someday, if we are good little sheep and follow his word, we will join him there for an eternity of love bliss and happiness. Eternity! Come on now. How much of this could one stand?

"If knowing answers to life's questions is absolutely necessary to you, then forget the journey. You will never make it, for this is a journey of unknowables -- of unanswered questions, enigmas, incomprehensibles, and, most of all, things unfair."
- Jeanne Guyon, in *Spiritual Torrents*  

Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.
Mother Teresa

Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother.
- Khalil Gibran 

There you have it. Faith, something obviously, I know little about, nor do I have a desire to practice it, religiously speaking. “O ye of little faith.” That’s in the Bible, like everything else, in numerous places.

Things that destroyed my faith, hope and belief- Part 3

Things that destroyed my faith, hope and belief; first, like I said I'm a doubter, but I tried for many years to keep the faith. The biggest thing to kick me in the gut was the hypocrisy of most, and maybe all, churches and religions. It came at me every day, in many ways. Along with it came backstabbing, gossiping and outright lying. It slowly ground away at my faith in the church and in the congregation.
Then along came the atrocities of church leaders, from the bottom clear to the top. Scandals kept denied and covered up and finally bribed away. No one turned over the tables. All it takes to wipe away the front page headlines is a few greenbacks. And the denials, "Not our pastor, not our preacher," the congregations cried. "Ah, this is life, no one is without sin." And to ones that go to jail, only to come back to the open arms of their blind sheep, and they continue their blood sucking and blabbering about repentance.
It was all more than this redneck/hillbilly could swallow. I lost hope. Now I believe only in nature, which, of course, includes space. It's a marvelous universe out there, something that is real and can be verified. Until something new and explicable comes along, this is where I'll stay.
I read signs in my neighborhood saying "Save our schools, we are one nation under God. My question is, whose God? Why should one be allowed to stand around and have the beliefs of some other God stuffed down his throat? And it happens every day. If you hear it on the radio or television, you have the option of turning it off or changing the station. But at public meetings and gatherings one must suffer the embarrassment of setting through it.
I think government run schools should be done away with. Home schooling, private schools and church schools are the way to go. They are more efficient and less expensive in the long run. Let the government put that money toward more space exploration. Maybe we will find God out there somewhere, or at least see more of His creation?