Skeptical Faith

Google Image Long enough have I been dwelling With those who hate peace. I am for peace, but when I speak, They are for fighting. (Psalm 119/120) This verse has never been more relevant in light of current electoral politics. Presidential candidates are falling all over themselves trying to appear tough on potential enemies, one saying he would “carpet bomb ISIS,” the self-proclaimed Islamic state, “into oblivion.” One of the many ironies of Christianity, now and historically, is that so many of us who proclaim Christianity ignore what Jesus, our church’s leader and founder, had to say about violence. Taking his cue from the spirit of the psalm above, Jesus covers the subject in his famous Sermon on the Mount. According to Revised Standard Version of the gospel of Mathew, he tries to get his listeners to understand that the age-old sayings that they live by aren’t what God intends, that he expects much more of his followers than what is acceptable to the culture. ...

Google Image A recent comment on a blog I wrote about violence and religion had this to say: “…Religion promotes the belief in something that is and has never been proven, i.e., an imaginary god or gods.” This assumes that if something can’t be proven scientifically, it doesn’t exist and isn’t worth pursuing. First off, I’m not promoting the view that science and religion are incompatible.   I’m an admirer of science, scientists and the scientific method but don’t believe it comprises the whole of knowledge nor is the only way to acquire knowledge. We also observe, test and learn about reality from art, literature, music, and yes, religion. As society becomes more secular, however, more people ignore the benefits and importance of religion. Unfortunately, the media – my career choice – deserves a lot of the blame. That’s because the media not only reflect society but help form it. If the media ignores religion, more of their audiences will, too. And except for big events ...

Google Image If you were asked about the greatest scholarly advances of the last 100 years, you probably wouldn't say "biblical studies." Yet as much as any scholarly pursuit, these studies - though casting doubt on the historicity of some stories and facts - have made the Bible much more comprehensible, useful and persuasive. True, you haven't heard about it in homilies. Is it because homilists worry they may plant seeds of doubt? Do they believe their listeners’ logic may be, “If Moses didn’t part the Red Sea, Jesus didn’t walk on water?” In other words, if they doubt the historical accuracy of any part of the Bible, will they doubt all of it? If this is the case, I believe they are underestimating their audiences and depriving them of a treasury of insights. They also are failing to level with their listeners and help them with doubts about the Bible they may already have. The studies are based on evidence from discipline...

Google Image   The Catholic Church, to which I belong, is observing a Jubilee Year of Mercy in 2016. Because “mercy” is one of those religious words that is otherwise seldom used in modern life, this may sound like a pious exercise that only the clergy or the devout should care about. But it goes to the heart of the question of who God is and who we are, questions which are essential for skeptics seeking God. Most of us form an idea of God from our parents, grandparents and family members; our church, if we’ve been associated with one; and the traditions and beliefs represented by those people and institutions. Sometime during our lives, those ideas are tested against what we learn from science, art, literature and the maturing process. Either we’re able to reconcile and harmonize what we learn from those sources or we’re not. But there’s an outlier in all this – a difficult-to-define-and-understand element we call faith, and in some form or another, it’s the game chan...