*13Mar13* Religion & Politics
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/03/21/149098695/pew-more-americans-see-too-much-religious-talk-in-politics
Is faith a fundamental part of human life? A necessary part? How do (if at all) faith & reason interact for you? How do (if at all) science and faith interact for you? Reference the "Historical Interlude" in your Ten Theories text.
You might talk about your own or your family's religious traditions, especially those surrounding D&D. I'll also remind you of this later in the term when we get closer to Easter, in case you'd like to comment on those traditions.
Since there are many people who live their lives without any religious convictions, I do not think that one could easily or convincingly argue that faith is a fundamental or necessary aspect of life.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I think that for the many who have faith, reason can synergistically be applied to further understanding of the natural world and of God. I think that my position on this matter reflects the arguments of Aquinas, as explained on pages 133 through 135 of the Ten Theories text, especially with regard rational theology and revealed theology. By our own independent mental capabilities and through rational theology, humans can attempt--for example--to prove the existence of God. On the other hand, God directly provides insight to us through avenues such as the Bible or the Roman-Catholic Church, which constitute revealed theology. Rather than working competively, reason and faith in these examples can interact in such a way that we can gain greater understanding. Where I diverge with Aquinas is with regard to the dominating control that the Roman-Catholic has over the matter, which I think effectively smothered any kind of counterarguments that could be used to further the debate. Aquinas "wrote that those heretics who use reason to produce perversions of the Christian faith may be 'banished from the world by death'" (134-135). Fortunately, today, debate and even dissent is met with more tolerance--generally--so that arguments and positions can be critically scrutinized without having to sentence a so-called heretic to death.
Science and faith can also work together to advance our understanding of the world, even though they often are portrayed as antagonistic to each other. For example, as discussed in class and on page 137 of the text, Galileo was very nearly killed for expounding experimentally corroborated statements at odds with what the Church taught, a fact which shows the palpable tension between science and faith. Overall, however, I think that people are generally beginning to understand that the two do not always have to be opposed. For example, with regard to the theory of evolution, many religious leaders--Protestant, Catholic, etc.--have acknowledged that it has strong corroboration, might be veracious, and that our human interpretation of stories such as those found in Bible might be incorrect rather than the Bible passages themselves. Hopefully, this latest pattern of reconciling the two will continue lest events like those of medieval time retake control and stymie growth of both science and faith.
I do not think that faith is a fundamental part of human life. However, for some people it may be. Obviously for the individuals called to religious life, faith is a major fundamental part of their life. But there are people that live their life without partaking in any religious practices. Augustine's famous phrase referencing faith and reason is "I believe in order to understand" (131). Augustine alludes to a deeper meaning that reason is unable to explain all the questions asked and uncover all the hidden truths. I agree with Augustine on this topic and I think that when it comes to some things, science cannot always prove it. Science does play a role in my faith. I believe that God played a role in evolution and that science and faith are not polarized.
ReplyDeleteMy faith definatly affects my reasoning. I was raised in a practicing Catholic family and went to a Catholic grade school and high school. Most of the time I do not question why I believe in some things or my reasoning becasue that's just what I have always been taught. For example, I am prolife and believe that all life is sacred because of the way I was raised and taught. When it comes to death and dying, I like to grieve in private. Coming from a Catholic family, I have attended a layout of the body to mourn the loss and then preceded with a mass. Following these events, the immediate family and very close relatvies will then go to the burial to burry their loved one. I have never been to the actual burrial of a body.
I do not think faith is a fundamental part of human life. There are many different people with many different beliefs and customs, and some do not believe in anything.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up, I attended church every Sunday and Wednesday with my my great aunt. She passed away when I was 16. After that, I stopped going to church and I haven't been back to an actual church sermon since (excluding funerals and weddings). Both of my parents families are fairly religious and they go to church every Sunday. My dad on the other hand does not. After he went into the Marines at 18, he declared himself an aeitheist. Having witnessed the terrible acts that people have endured he believes that if there was a God, he would not allow those things to happen.
When one of the students was talking in class about their grandma and how she feels comfort in knowing that when her grandma dies she know she will go to Heaven because that is what she believes. Well, I dread the time when I have to deal with my dad passing away because I have no comfort whatsoever because he is an aetheist and does not believe in the afterlife or that we will ever meet again. I can't even fool myself into thinking that he will go to Heaven if he doesn't believe in it. This is something I stuggle with frequently. Because I have faced so much death in my life, I tend to think about it on a regular basis.
i dont think faith is a fundemental part of life. a statistic that ive seen before is that people with strong religous faith live logner but this statistic really annoys me. i honestly believe this is all coincidence and this statistic could make non religous people feel bad. i was raised catholic, went to catholic grade school, church on sundays but when i got to high school i became more interested in other religions. im straying away more and more from the catholic church. i believe in the broad ideas of the church but the rules and some of the ideas annoy me. i support my family memebers on their beliefs and religions. if it makes my grandma happy that i go to church on christmas and easter then ill do that. ive only been to catholic funerals and ive been to enough to know that i never want a catholic funeral. i think that regarding religion i just go along with it to make my family happy because i sorta dont care. and maybe when im older ill make a religous connection back to catholicsm or another relgioun or maybe ill be agnostic. but as long as my grandmother and grandfather are alive ill be catholic becuase its what makes them happy.
ReplyDeleteI think that faith is a fundamental part of life because society makes you feel that way. For example I feel that society forces people to have faith and sometimes society looks down on non-religious or people who are atheist as people who have little emotion. However I don't feel like it is necessary because you you can have faith not be a part of your life, but you can still achieve happiness.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that faith is a fundamental part of life, mostly because I don't practice a religion; I see religion and religious beliefs as a choice. I was born and raised Catholic, however I disagree with many beliefs of the Church and how the religious "systems" work. I don't feel that I need to choose nor practice a religion to survive. I believe that my morals foster my actions and beliefs, not a religion. I was raised to believe what I feel inside and my parents beliefs would not be forced on me. My mother was raised Catholic as well as my father, however they never practiced faith. They used to go to church to teach my brother and I that it is something we can choose to do, but don't have to. I even went through 9 years of Catholic schooling.
ReplyDeleteI believe many "systems" of the world are flawed, including religion. I see life in a very literal sense, "it is what it is." I often see it from a biological/scientific point of view because life is life-relgious belifs or not. Death is simply death. You have a soul, you choose to believe where you go after death without your body, you choose to believe if there is a higher power, you also can choose how to live your life. I see alot of patients going through the dying process and start to become very religious after not practicing most of their life, but that is also a choice.
I don't think faith is a fundamental part of life, but I do think many people rely on it to get them through certain circumstances. I am Catholic and my religion has played a huge role in my life. Many of the things that occur in my life I do believe it happens for a reason and God is the only people who knows that reason. When my brother's best friend died I know God had a different plan for him. Prayer still is what gets me through hard times. I will add more to this later on in the semester.
ReplyDeleteIn my own experience, faith is something that you are born into and only in some cases you find it along the way. What confused me more about history of faith is that the authority of faith is somewhat of a "tossup" because it so widely disputed just like where the Vatican was to be placed centuries ago (Rome or France). Fundamentally I don't believe that faith is a a part of someone's life unless they are raised to believe in something. Therefore, it does not seem necessary because the person will have to think about their faith at some point in their life. Scientific advancement has been controversial with faith since thinkers have been moving us forward. Although it does not disprove God or faith, it still went against what the church had been preaching.
ReplyDeleteFor me faith is a large part of my life. My faith in God and life itself has helped my through si many situations. I always say "With Faith comes Hope" and that "Everything happens for a Reason." One of the toughest things i have gone through is my dad getting sick. It has taken a huge toll on me, but I know that I have hope in everything because of my faith and that it is all happening for a reason. [Even tough/bad things can have good impacts in life]. Faith may not be a fundamental in life or a necessity in life to every individual, but it plays a large role in mine.
ReplyDeleteI feel that faith is a big part of human life for those people that make it a big part of their life. I am not a very religious person, but I do believe in God. I was not raised in a very religious family. I have been in a Catholic school since first grade though. My mom believed in letting me make my own decision on what I wanted to believe, so she did not have me baptized. The beliefs I developed are, that I do believe that we go to heaven when we die, but I don’t believe that people go to hell. I believe, that if someone did bad things in their life that would keep them from going to heaven, that they go to purgatory (or something similar). (I don’t know if the Catholic Church still believes in purgatory anymore). Once in purgatory, I believe that the individual can work off their wrong doings in some way until they are able to go heaven. I just feel that God is always talked about as being very forgiving and loving us all so much. Therefore, I don’t see how a God like that would send us to hell. That’s just my opinion. Taking this into consideration, I do allow God into my life and I keep him in mind while making some decisions in my life. I try to pray at least once everyday as well. I do not go to church every Sunday or every holy day. Do I think that I am a bad person for this? No. I feel satisfied with my faith as it is. I guess you could say I don’t really follow organized religion. I believe that religion and faith can be practiced individually. Since I allow my beliefs and faith to drive my decisions, I do feel that it interacts with my reasoning behind some of my choices. However, I believe that it does so on a more unconscious level. Since I see faith as working in my life on an unconscious level, technically I don’t see it as big part of my human life. If I were to sit down and examine faith in my life, like I am doing now, then I would see that it does actually play a role in my day to day to life. The text talks about our “rational soul” and I feel that the description the text gives “Consisting in our capacities for perception, intellectual conception, theoretical reasoning, and practical deliberation resulting in exercise of our free will in action” (134), is somewhat relatable to how I live my life.
ReplyDeleteI do think faith (whether the existence or lack of existence) is fundamental to your life. Having a faith that you follow and live your life by is almost as influential has having no faith to live by.
ReplyDeleteI am not a religious person... However, the existence of other religions have definitely influenced my life. It has given me something to think about. Whether or not I let these doctrines "rule" my actions, what is thought of as being a "Christian" is almost revered as the overall role model of our country. Christians are viewed as righteous, good, wholesome people for the most part in this country, and living a holy life is usually esteemed as an ideal standard for everyone.
Just the existence of other people's faith will affect your life in some way... So it is fundamental in the sense that you must learn to be sensitive to it--being that it exists, and will always exist.
I agree with Laura that faith is fundamental to your life. Not everyone practices religion yet they are surrounded by a diverse range of religions that may seem to influence them. I as well was not brought up religiously, yet my family had many beliefs. Still to this day, I do not pracice a particular religion and have beliefs of my own, yet I am doing my research because I have the desire to learn and practice. I also try to be understanding and sensitve to other's faith and beliefs even though I may not always agree. I do feel that faith will always exist and I am sure views will change, so it is important for other individuals to be accepting and understanding as well.
ReplyDeleteI see how religion can be a huge fundamental in someones life. At my job I talk to many people who will don't have a lot of time left but many of them believe in god and pray and believe "in a plan". I encourage them to talk about it because it makes them feel better. I don't bring my own beliefs into my job at all because I really don't have a religion and wasn't raised in that setting at all. I just believe that when you die that is it there isn't anything after. But for some people they truly believe the exact opposite. Even though thats not what I believe I find comfort that they feel comforted by their faith. It brings a peace to them that pain medicine or anti anxiety drugs can't do. So I go along with whatever makes the patient feel better. So even though I don't find it fundamental in my life, I believe that if people truly believe in God that it is fundamental in theirs
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