Some recent religious pondering.
I suppose it's good that I've established my primary problem with religion is the use of non-falsifiable "evidence" to support its arguments and claims to truth. I strongly disagree with the argument that faith is best manifested when one has no reason to still believe, and yet continues believing. That, to me, is complete foolishness. As a child, I could have thought that little purple monkeys live inside my ears; as an adult, I could have x-rays and all sorts of medical examinations to find these monkeys, and when none turn up, I could either resolve that the monkeys don't exist or I could present some non-falsifiable arguments ("they're just hiding", "they're actually invisible", "they cannot be detected with the human eye or x-rays") and still believe. If I did the latter, I'd be stupid. Relying on non-falsifiable arguments and reasonless faith just does not sit well with me. If you believe something, have reasons and evidence to justify it.
I have also recently become quite intrigued by the argument asserting God is a social construct, a form of explaining the world when it appears inexplicable, confusing, and daunting, and a form of comfort when life becomes overwhelming. God may not actually exist in reality, but the social construct provides a significant degree of mental support to millions of people and is thus a valuable idea. I personally find the idea of an existence without God to be a rather empty one, so I can certainly understand this argument.
I'm sure the above paragraphs make me sound as if I am losing my religion or have already lost it. Perhaps. But I feel my belief has improved lately; my desire for actual evidence instead of non-falsifiable arguments has made me think even more deeply about my faith and there are some arguments regarding the life of Jesus and his disciples that I simply cannot dismiss as non-falsifiable. I believe very much in challenging my religion rather than leaving it to stand weakly, without full intellectual commitment. Without full intellectual commitment, I do not feel it has a sufficiently strong foundation to truly stand the test of time. I admit my bias however, in that I want God to exist and Jesus to have been right; I have grown comfortable with Christianity in the last four years as it gives me a sense of purpose and reason. It gives me a reason to bother. If there is no higher purpose to life, I don't think I'd bother.
At the end of the day, I want God to be more than a non-falsifiable social construct to explain and comfort. I want God to be real and immediate. I hope one day I can acquire an affirmation of that.
I have also recently become quite intrigued by the argument asserting God is a social construct, a form of explaining the world when it appears inexplicable, confusing, and daunting, and a form of comfort when life becomes overwhelming. God may not actually exist in reality, but the social construct provides a significant degree of mental support to millions of people and is thus a valuable idea. I personally find the idea of an existence without God to be a rather empty one, so I can certainly understand this argument.
I'm sure the above paragraphs make me sound as if I am losing my religion or have already lost it. Perhaps. But I feel my belief has improved lately; my desire for actual evidence instead of non-falsifiable arguments has made me think even more deeply about my faith and there are some arguments regarding the life of Jesus and his disciples that I simply cannot dismiss as non-falsifiable. I believe very much in challenging my religion rather than leaving it to stand weakly, without full intellectual commitment. Without full intellectual commitment, I do not feel it has a sufficiently strong foundation to truly stand the test of time. I admit my bias however, in that I want God to exist and Jesus to have been right; I have grown comfortable with Christianity in the last four years as it gives me a sense of purpose and reason. It gives me a reason to bother. If there is no higher purpose to life, I don't think I'd bother.
At the end of the day, I want God to be more than a non-falsifiable social construct to explain and comfort. I want God to be real and immediate. I hope one day I can acquire an affirmation of that.