Faith is dynamic, personal, emotional, and empowering. Faith not only shapes a person’s ideas about Life, Reality, the nature of the world, good, bad, evil, and justice, it also informs a person’s conduct, lifestyle and behavior. You name it, and Faith has something to say about it.
Whether waxing strong as a blazing fire, or waning weak like a smoldering matchstick, Faith moves people, changes, develops, and grows people. Strong or weak, forward moving or stagnant, Faith affects everything and everyone—even those without Faith.
Indeed, I would argue that there is no one without a faith in something. We all exercise and apply faith in people, things, ideals, causes, and/or hoped-for results. A kind of implicit faith is behind most of our choices, actions, and chosen lifestyles in one form or another.
But Faith can be dangerous too. It can be volatile, explosive. Faith ignites and inspires and also consumes. It can be all demanding and merciless in its expectations, self-righteous, judgmental, even condemning.
Because of this, FAITH should be handled with great care, humility, and respect. How so? Given the pluralistic, multicultural society we live in, I suggest we encourage the following attitudinal approach to FAITH:
First, FAITH should be invitational. No one should be forced to believe in, follow, trust, submit to, or live by a prescribed FAITH. Faith must be freely applied and embraced or it is not real faith.
Secondly, FAITH should be reasonable. For example, it is not unreasonable to believe in miracles. The belief in miracles actually makes good sense, when one begins with the premise, “God IS.” Though God, the object of many a Faith, may be above and beyond human reason as such, our limited and finite understanding of God is still not without reason, rationality, or common sense. In fact, no Faith, no teaching or doctrine is totally disconnected from some form of logic and rationality. Faith must make sense to the Believer. And one’s FAITH should help the Believer make sense of his/her world, moving towards a greater appreciation of Reality, not less. Indeed, many people of Faith will say that their faith enlightens their understanding and their understanding deepens their FAITH.
Thirdly, FAITH should be practiced with great humility for two major reasons:
(A) Because it is impossible for ALL FAITH claims to be true. The core content of their contradictory tenets will not allow it. For example, “Universal” or “Absolute” TRUTH is something that is true for all people at all times in all places, whether it is believed in or not. The various FAITHS of our world are in the business of teaching, claiming, and promoting what they believe to be Universal and Absolute Truth. Obviously not all FAITHS agree with each other on key and essential doctrines. Though it is true that most FAITHS agree on many moral and ethical teachings, as for example “Thou shall not steal or kill,” we cannot ignore their absolutely contradictory dogmas. Take my own FAITH as an example: either the essential nature of God is Triune, as mainstream historical Christianity teaches, or it is not. We know that there are FAITHS that categorically disavow and repudiate the very concept of a Triune God (NOT three gods, mind you! Christians do affirm that God is ONE, though Triune in nature). Point being: someone is mistaken and is in error or is confused. In this light, adherents to any FAITH should hold their Faith with great humility, sharing it, promoting it, and teaching it with humble respect toward others and their own preciously held beliefs.
(B) Because our reasoning capacity for understanding God is quite limited. GOD is all knowing, all powerful, etc., WE are NOT. We humans make mistakes in our thinking, in our judgments, our logic and in the drawing of conclusions, not to mention in our application of principles and values, and in our perceptions and interpretations of things. We’ve all misunderstood, misapplied, misjudged, and reasoned incorrectly. By definition God is far too complex a BEING for any normal human to claim he/she perfectly understands and knows God and all that God does and is about. Thus, it behooves us to be humble with our assertions and our convictions about God. Doesn’t it? We should let God be the arbiter of TRUTH, not us.
How than can we show practical respect to one another while faithfully holding to our own Faith’s assertions that contradict that of others? I suggest the following:
1. We allow for and respect the free exchange of ideas, beliefs, values, and convictions. While respecting the boundaries of our individual FAITH Communities we recognize that we are a Community of communities. There are many FAITH communities living under this One Nation. Each has a voice and contributes to the collective knowledge, influence, action, and direction that this nation takes. Living and working side by side as we do, let’s choose to respectfully negotiate our way through our values, as distinctive but united communities under this one nation, and do so with mutual respect and integrity.
2. We allow for and respect people’s freedom to move toward or away from FAITH, of their own accord. Freedom assumes mobility, a flux of intake and outtake, people moving in and out, from one FAITH community to another. In short, people should be free to convert as they choose. From a Faith standpoint, it presumes that we are all on a journey and so must grant each other the freedom to move accordingly, allowing for progression, change, and development. “Be patient with me, God is not finished with me yet,” says a bumper sticker. Well said. We are “a work in progress.” In this light people should feel free to invite others to join them along the path they have chosen, but the invitees must also feel free to say, “Thanks, but no thanks!” No one should be cajoled, forced, browbeaten or coerced into joining a FAITH group, no matter how right that FAITH group may think itself to be. By the same token, no one should be prevented from inviting others to join their FAITH group either. It works both ways.
3. We avoid imposing our particular Faith practices upon all others while all others should also refrain from forbidding us from the practices of our own Faith, generally speaking. We should not fear unnecessary or especially unjust reprisal for simply expressing and living by the tenets of our own FAITH. It is this freedom to choose not only what we believe but whether we shall believe and whether and how we shall practice our beliefs that has made this nation strong.
No comments:
Post a Comment