Grandfather says religious conviction is a funny thing.
Not ha-ha funny; wondrous funny.
It propelled the Sistine Chapel ceiling, the Spanish inquisition, the Knights Templar and Billy Graham’s Crusades …
But its expression is uneven. And uncertain.
Those who have it yearn to be sure.
Agnostics admit they don’t know.
Atheists say all the others know the wrong thing.
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About the Author: RD Blakeslee is a nonagenarian in West Virginia who built his net worth by only investing in that which can be enjoyed during acquisition and throughout life, as opposed to papers in a drawer, like stocks and bonds. You can read more about him here. This article was originally published on 7 December 2017.
Original oil painting by: Grandfather’s wife
… and, as in all of human striving, current fashion plays a major role.
Right now in the minds of our “celebrity” fashion leaders, Muslims are in fashion, Christians are not.
For me, I find it inconceivable something so complex as the world we live in and the universe around us can be the result of chance, or only exists “just because”. For this reason I believe in a higher power.
I do too, Ted, for the same reason. Well said, sir.
A Christian view of an “alternative” religion:
For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. – 1st Timothy 6:10
“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon” ( Matthew 6:24 )
And a secular view of a contemporary result:
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/bear-awakens
Many wars and murders have been committed in the name of religion. The Middle East is a prime example. The Holocaust is one of the worst.
Multiple ancestors of mine had to leave their homeland because of religious persecution. They were Christian just not the government sanctioned church.
If one had not left France, Louis XIV would have targeted him for being Huguenot. Others left Germany because they were dunkers. The Moravians left Bohemia because of it. The final group was the Cherokee. As they were marched on a death march called The Trail Of Tears, they sang Amazing Grace in Cherokee.
People who seek to force their beliefs and suppress others give religion a bad name.
Bill, Western civilization might have reached a point where the likes of Roberts Rules of Order governed tolerant discourse, but no. Over and over, overt aggressive impulses overtake the civilized veneer and people hurt each other. In some cases (as is current in the U.S., I think) there is a deliberate movement to destroy our civilized heritage, to advance the ascendancy of this or that “victimhood”.
Victim mentality leads to a sense of entitlement. People will vote for whomever gives them what they want. Freedom continues to erode, and the fools don’t even notice it.
From the beginning of time religion has been the basis for almost all wars this planet has seen because “God was on their side”.
… and the poor souls who actually fight “in the trenches” are said to never be atheists.
Again, religion is a funny thing. For the rulers, it the rationale for sending youngsters into battle and for the combatants, it’s hope for survival.