Rick, at Rick's Cafe Americain, has a remarkably cynical post on The Passion of the Christ, which is prompting many posts in the blogosphere and much discussion in the real world.
I'd write something about the movie, but I have yet to see it. This movie is one of the many "memes" making their way through the blogosphere.
Actually, I haven't attended church since I was 13, over 26 years ago.
Am I an atheist? Nope...
Am I an agnostic? Not exactly...
Am I a Christian? Well, my parents took me to a Salvation Army church until I was around eight years old, then they sent me to a Southern Baptist church near my elementary school until I objected when I was thirteen and said I wanted to sleep in on Sundays.
Yes, I know that answer is unresponsive.
I was raised in an environment that was culturally Christian, but was not Christian in the sense of the word that it appears most now mean when they use it.
Several of my relatives, especially the farmers, are devoutly Christian.
My father's mother is a deeply faithful Christian of the Southern Baptist denomination.
My mother's mother is a deeply faithful alcoholic.
My father's father has been dead for 31 years, killed from over 30 years of smoking Camel cigarettes.
My mother's father has been dead for 61 years, I believe buried on an island in the Pacific during World War II.
I had two great aunts, sisters to my father's father, who died spinsters, deeply faithful. One died about 7 years after her older sister had a stroke, worn out from caring for her older sister. The elder died about 3 years later, choking on her own vomit in a nursing home.
Am I about to make the argument that there cannot be a God because of all the evil and irony in the world? No.
Am I disturbed by the faith I see in others in my life? Yes, if it is unquestioning faith.
I continually question everything. I take nothing on faith.
Faith is an intimate and vital part of any religion.
Even science requires faith in some fundamental, underlying assumptions.
Is my eternal questioning bad?
I don't necessarily think so, but sometimes stability is very appealing.
Unquestioning faith troubles me.
Not questioning in general troubles me.
The unexamined life may not be worth living, but it sure is a hell of a lot easier...
Posted by Jack at 23:21 on Tuesday 2 March 2004 | Trackbacks (0)