(no subject)
Cody, just because certain people follow the (christianity emphasizes faith, blind faith even. how do you practice christianity? go to church? pray at night for what you want? follow the ten commandments? you dont have to believe in a god(s) to know that thou shalt not kill (w/o paying dearly for it)) approach doesn't mean that ALL Christians encounter faith without struggle; challenging and seeking other answers and eat/regurgitate information like you say. Just because a large population are that way doesn't mean that Christianity as a whole is a weakly founded program. Furthermore, being a Christian and being active in your faith ARE, as you said, two different things. Take Franciscan, for an example. Some of these students, though moderately odd as compared to the rest of society, are the farthest thing from lazy when it comes to religious activity, and although I may not agree with all of them, where else can you find 90% of a school's population that attends mass (or anything) for that matter EVERY Sunday, sacrifices hours on Saturday mornings to defend the rights of the unborn, with whom they have no acquaintance, and dedicates in excess of sometimes ten or fifteen hours a week to prayer, self-reflection, contemplation, meditation, and good works? Where else would you even FIND college students up on Saturdays at 7 am when they could be in bed? There is something to be said for an organization that's been around for 2000 years that still has virtually the same hierarchy as it did at its origin. I may not like the rules, and I may not always follow them, but I would be willing to give credit where credit is due.
Obviously Christianity as a whole is not for everyone, but it is important to, as I said before, give credit when it is due and acknowledge the fact that one must be objective when speaking for such a whole that contains various entities underneath it.
Finally, I do not believe that all peoples are naturally able to decipher right from wrong, and that many people suffer from a mal-formed conscience, and lack general "moral" judgement. I don't believe that just anyone innately knows that killing another person or stealing is wrong, I think that it has to be taught, and if it is not taught or is taught incorrectly, I believe that a person could truly be ignorant to the truth of what is right or socially acceptable (to put it another way.)
I'm not trying to convince you to convert to Christianity or anything like that, I'm just trying to show you that taking a Relativist view of Christianity is not necessarily the most tolerant of all options and just because it doesn't work for you does not mean, in any way, that it is an unfounded and weak system, but, you are entitled to your opinion.
Obviously Christianity as a whole is not for everyone, but it is important to, as I said before, give credit when it is due and acknowledge the fact that one must be objective when speaking for such a whole that contains various entities underneath it.
Finally, I do not believe that all peoples are naturally able to decipher right from wrong, and that many people suffer from a mal-formed conscience, and lack general "moral" judgement. I don't believe that just anyone innately knows that killing another person or stealing is wrong, I think that it has to be taught, and if it is not taught or is taught incorrectly, I believe that a person could truly be ignorant to the truth of what is right or socially acceptable (to put it another way.)
I'm not trying to convince you to convert to Christianity or anything like that, I'm just trying to show you that taking a Relativist view of Christianity is not necessarily the most tolerant of all options and just because it doesn't work for you does not mean, in any way, that it is an unfounded and weak system, but, you are entitled to your opinion.