hello all,
i'm fairly certain every member of this site is going to tear anything i say completely apart, and if that didn't happen i'd be shocked. i have been raised a charismatic catholic but throughout my life have been taught to listen to other's beliefs or disbeliefs, and no matter what they believed or did not believe, i should show them love. why was i taught to love? because as my parents (and i) believe the greatest lesson of christianity is to "love one another as i have loved you".
so tonight i spent several hours speaking to one of the founding members of this website and honestly i thought he would try to convert me. but instead we had a discussion in which i was told i'm "not fun to debate". i do not take my religion at face value. instead i have searched the basic tenets of my faith and discovered that the reasons most (not all) atheists have issues with theists is because they do not look into the reasons behind their faith. i see faith as completely irrational. i accept that there is no indisputable proof behind my beliefs. instead i see the effects of my beliefs. i try (as much as i can i am no where near perfect) to be an example of what i believe jesus to be. i believe that jesus acted out of love and hoped that his display of love would encourage others to do the same. i believe that if i show the same love i have learned from the teachings of jesus (whether or not he existed as my atheist mentor tried to explain this evening) maybe someone else will feel that love and pass it on. maybe they or someone down the line will continue this love and somehow in small ways that love will eventually touch the whole world. am i ridiculously optimistic? yes. i know this and i accept it. but it does not make me want to give up it only makes me what to try harder.
i understand that certain religions have caused problems and i am sorry for the pain they have caused, but... why should certain actions throughout the centuries distort the original purpose of the faith? i am nowhere near a theologian. i am a novice. i am a believer. i am someone who only wants to pass on the love that i feel, the joy that i feel, when i speak of my belief in God.
If God is love, as i believe, why is it so bad to follow him. i don't believe anyone should follow God blindly and i don't think God wants that either. continue to ask questions and search for the truth. it is only through these actions that a Christian can truly say they believe. those who follow blindly will only walk into walls. keep your eyes open, let the proof lead you where it may but ask yourself this... am i refuting beliefs because people haven't sought the truth or am i refuting beliefs because i can not accept that there may be a God who cannot be proven? are you afraid to believe, are you afraid of beliefs? there is no definitive proof either way. i can NOT prove there IS a God just as you can NOT prove there IS NO God.