A Requiem Mass for Faith

[Friend_Of_Rome]

In this modern era, faith is not dead. However, its sibling of reason has become a bully of sorts, shunting faith from its place and shouting at her “gullable nature.”

Faith and reaosn . . .how can we mend the apparent fracture? As Catholics, we know that they are actualy inseperable, but others don’t grasp this.

Faith and reason . . .why do poeple not believe what science has no ability of proving?

Faith and reaosn. . . why cannot people see that reason is merely faith that has been proven by our own pathetic means?

Faith and reason . . .how can people deny the existence of God, or at least a “life force,” when over 95% of the world does? I’m counting agnostics here, because they “aren’t quite certain.” Remeber, every faith has some degree of truth.

I have received many different answers, and now, i wish to have yours.

 

[Verita]

Faith and reason are like the shoes on your feet. You can get further with both than you can with one.

 

[Church_Militant]

Faith and reason are like the shoes on your feet. You can get further with both than you can with one.

Well said!

 

[Benedictus]

Faith and reason . . .why do poeple not believe what science has no ability of proving?

The skeptic would respond, “why should I?” Why should someone believe what can’t be proven? God isn’t easy to see for most people.

Faith and reaosn. . . why cannot people see that reason is merely faith that has been proven by our own pathetic means?

That’s an interesting definition of reason. I don’t think I can agree with it.

Faith and reason . . .how can people deny the existence of God, or at least a “life force,” when over 95% of the world does? I’m counting agnostics here, because they “aren’t quite certain.” Remeber, every faith has some degree of truth.

I suppose everyone has his own reasons for not believing. Some people want to believe but can’t. Some haven’t found a religion that fits their beliefs.

People have their reasons for rejecting Christianity in particular. For some it’s the evil that the God of the Old Testament commanded or approved (raping of women, slaughtering innocent children).

Some people see hypocrisy and scandals in various religions. In our own Church we have the embarrassing history of burning people at the stake, bad Popes, and priests raping children.

Some see logical contraditions in different Faiths or just find them unattractive intellectually. Who in the 21st century would really believe that pork is “unclean”?

Others have trouble believing that a good God would allow such evils in the world while condeming us to hell for seemingly small infractions (cf. “Trial of God” by Elie Wiesel).

Some stopped believing because of unanswered prayers. They read in the Gospels passages like “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, `Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen.”, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you”, “If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it”, etc.

But for most, I think it’s simply that they don’t see evidence for God’s existence in their daily lives.

 

[Contarini]

In this modern era, faith is not dead. However, its sibling of reason has become a bully of sorts, shunting faith from its place and shouting at her “gullable nature.”

There are a few loud champions of reason against faith, but they are so loud and shrill because their views aren’t very popular, and their version of reason is quite different from that of much of Western culture historically.

On the whole, I think reason is in worse shape than faith in our culture. There are a lot more people who guide their lives by faith than there are people who try to think rationally about anything. Probably it’s always been that way, but in our generally egalitarian culture (egalitarian in ideal at least) reason is seen as elitist and irrelevant.

People who valued reason would not go for the DaVinci Code, in which there are more false assumptions and blatant bits of illogic than you can shake a bishop’s crozier at.

Edwin