Sunday, July 15, 2007

 
A response to the video "10 Questions Every Intelligent Christian Must Answer", which can be found on YouTube here...

That's the thing about faith-- if you don't have it, you can't understand it. And if you do have it, no scientific explanation is necessary. Sorry, but I've been in a choir and sung Christmas carols to kids in children's hospitals and felt the Holy Spirit moving through us, touching our lives. I've felt the powerful, potent sensation of God's love. Do I do things that are inconsistent with the way God wants me to live my life? Sure. But overall I try to live my faith by being kind, gentle and loving towards my fellow human beings, and I don't begin to think that the set of beliefs I have as a person are the same as for anyone else. Nor is my set of beliefs *right* for everyone. It's *my* spiritual life, though, and it works for me.

A lot of the questions in this lecture (which was very well-presented, even if I disagree with the conclusion) can be answered with another of God's creations: the concept of free will. Why does a good person get murdered? Because the murderer made that decision for himself *and* for the innocent victim. It doesn't mean that God loved the innocent less, but the murderer made the choice to commit his crime. In many ways we're responsible for shaping our own destiny. But God's there between the lines, guiding and shaping.

Why are there so many starving children in Africa and whatnot? Well, I don't wish to generalize, but there are many governments on that continent that are in a constant state of regime change, or are too corrupt to want to take care of their own citizens. The leaders of the country, elected or not, help to shape the destiny of the citizens of that country. But don't you think that those starving people still live with some hope that things will get better? Maybe one day they will, if people start caring enough to make a change.

It'd be very convenient for God to swoop down from heaven and solve all of humanity's problems, but maybe if humanity would stop screwing *themselves* up so much, if we could stop killing each other and start loving, maybe things would get better!

Labels: atheist, Christian, faith, Holy Spirit, questions

posted by Eddie 6:39 AM