Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Doubt = Faith

I'm still reading the book "The Reason For God" and I am still thoroughly enjoying it. What has struck me most and what the author says in almost every chapter in some form or fashion is that doubt itself is a belief system. Rejecting one belief means clinging to another. We all have faith in something. There can not be a void of nothingness in your mind unless you're a vegetable. To vehemently insist that you do not believe one thing is insisting an unsaid belief in another.
Another point he brings up is the oxymoron of exclusion. I have had some idea of this running around in my brain for a while, but couldn't really make it gel until I read this book. It's as simple as this: Either you're fighting for everyone to have equality and for everyone to be included, or you're not. For example, someone can't say "We don't want Christian beliefs to be expressed here because the Christian belief system is exclusive and we are for inclusiveness" without being exclusive themselves. To exclude someone or some group because you don't agree with their exclusiveness is still exclusion. (That word is starting to sound funny.)
There are so many other things from this book I'm still struggling to have a firm grasp on. It gets very confusing very quickly and I often have to read paragraphs again to really get it. The writing style isn't confusing. It's just the information itself. When you're not used to thinking a certain way about something, it's a challenge to work through it a completely different way.
You'll just have to read it, because I think I'm starting to sound confusing here. I highly recommend it for both Christian and non-Christian alike. It will challenge you either way.

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