thoughts of faith
I talked crap @ 9:39 p.m. on 12.06.04
ok, this entry may offend some people, but that is not my intention, it is simply what i have been thinking for a while. also...there isnt too much of a point...im just kinda thinking
ive been planning on writing this entry for quite a while, but things have gotten in the way here and there, so its been postponed many times. today, however, during the course of my random internet escapades, i came across a newsweek survey about christianity, the very topic of my impending entry. i will use some of the statistics in the entry, the rest will be posted at the bottom
Seventy-nine percent of Americans believe that, as the Bible says, Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, without a human father
Sixty-seven percent say they believe that the entire story of Christmas—the Virgin Birth, the angelic proclamation to the shepherds, the Star of Bethlehem and the Wise Men from the East—is historically accurate.
In general, say 55 percent of those polled, every word of the Bible is literally accurate.
why do people believe in anything? how do people know about the god in which they believe. most people will say it is a matter of faith. but to me, this blind faith, at least in this matter, seems to be misguided at best. how do you know that your faith is pointed in the right direction. it seems to me that faith could be used as an argument for any religion...do so many people believe in christianity merely because it got to them first? is it because it is already so widely accepted in society? if i came along with a book, and some great stories, and told people that supreme aliens from mars were here once, and are comming to save us in the future, i would be laughed at by most. if i demanded a blind faith in these aliens, i would most likely be put in an asylum...why is this not the case for stories about an evil snake, a world-wide flood, and so many other things throughout the bible? (i do not discount the bible as a source of moral guidelines, only the faith that so many people seem to have in it) what would cause people to believe in someone who was born without a human father, who never sinned, who performed miracles and eventualy died to save humanity. perhaps i can understand in cases of those people who have had/seen/experienced events that could not possibly be explained through anything but the divine. but for the majority of the population, which does not fit into this category, what cause is there to pick christianity as the religion of choice?
if there were no christians, but all the same resources were available (bible, etc)would people still be come christian? if christianity were not the american social norm, as it is in some places, would people still believe on the basis of faith alone?
will today's christianity become yester-year's salem? the unfounded shenanigans entirely without scientific basis?
i welcome any input or insight (or you can just call me a dumbass)
so leave me a note
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6650997/site/newsweek/
