I don't consider myself in a position to judge the validity of anybody's religion.
But I'd ask you this - if a religion's values are good, its practitioners are happy and its role in the community is positive, does it really matter whether the religion is true in an absolute sense? Is the concept of absolute truth even relevant or applicable?
We've all met pious assholes. I've also met truly faithful people that renew my hope for humanity. The practice of faith is one of accepting duality, of not knowing the truth and being comfortable with that. Or of accepting that one person's unprovable truth is different than another's, and being OK with it. Why bother debating the unknowable?
> The practice of faith is one of accepting duality, of not knowing the truth and being comfortable with that. Or of accepting that one person's unprovable truth is different than another's, and being OK with it.
While I agree that there are some people that view faith in this way, I have heard some interpretations of faith as the idea that there is an unprovable truth that faith allowed to be taken as true, regardless.
I think this is the type of faith that can reinforce the importance of some bible passages over others, fighting against same sex marriage, etc.
I agree that there is definitely some good faith, and as an agnostic person I'm open to a faith experience (but I haven't had one and am pretty sure I won't), but I also think there's some bad faith that says the person's truth may be unproveable - but that the unprovability doesn't stop that "truth" from being objective.
The faith you're describing seems similar in functional terms to what Simone De Beauvoir describes in her book "The Ethics of Ambiguity".
But I'd ask you this - if a religion's values are good, its practitioners are happy and its role in the community is positive, does it really matter whether the religion is true in an absolute sense? Is the concept of absolute truth even relevant or applicable?
We've all met pious assholes. I've also met truly faithful people that renew my hope for humanity. The practice of faith is one of accepting duality, of not knowing the truth and being comfortable with that. Or of accepting that one person's unprovable truth is different than another's, and being OK with it. Why bother debating the unknowable?
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