Yes, every religion, every thought, every idea has schools of thought. Those that believe, those that do not. Those that would kill you because you do not believe what they believe and those that shrug their shoulders and believe what they believe, no matter what anyone says or what evidence is produced.
Traveling the world helps. Running into people who believe what they believe regardless of the evidence presented by others is like talking to people in their own turtle shells. No matter what evidence you provide from a different point of view, they crawl into the shell, their zone of mental safety and ignore the world around them. During an earthquake, I saw a little girl playing with her dolls. I do not know where her parents were but since the devastation was immense, I suppose she was separated. She ignored everything around her and simply played with her dolls. One of the aid workers came to her and speaking to her in a dialect she knew and tried to take her away. She got upset and started to fight. She wanted to cling to that last place where she thought she was comfortable. I wonder if somehow I am keeping God from talking to me because I would rather sit, in my mind, in the place where I am comfortable.
I am blessed because I can study. I have read volumes of information that tear at my understanding of God and the Bible. I listen to the lectures from Harvard, Yale and …. those that are vehemently opposed to my beliefs. Then I study the alternatives and from afar, I look at both ugly ends of the analysis, those that blindly believe what they believe, like the little girl, ignoring everything, and those who would fight to the death to maintain their belief, like the little girl who fought to stay where she was comfortable.
Hobbes, Locke, Rosseau, Smith, Marx, Nietzsche, Of course Freud, no one will ever let us forget Freud, and those that have come and gone since. Oh my, in my mind I went back and talked with professor Shelly and we wandered though our limited understanding of Aristotle and Plato. I was interrupted by the birthday of a three year old girl from Lagos Nigeria who did not care a whit what I thought or what anyone else thought, She thought ice cream was really important. Then there is the poodle that has come to visit. Ella is her name and she does not understand anything I say though she seems quite content to listen.
So, I am going to wander the earth looking everywhere to find that in the end I know so little that it is frightening.
Ella wants a biscuit and a walk. Stella wants ice cream and I have no idea what you want but everyone wants. Day, night and especially on the days they think most important.
So, ignore this post. It is saying I don’t know much and the more I study the more I don’t know and I’m not sure bother me.
Back to the basics. Love God as I know God (very, very vaguely) and love everyone as time permits.
I have not found anyone, animal or other that does not like sugar, gum and water. Especially when it is frozen. Just getting away from hate is important.
Back to the Qur’an. Islamists debate each other. Factions kill each other. That is, until someone who does not believe correctly comes together. Christians corporately stand against Islamists, corporately. It is once you get inside one house or another that you see they are not all in agreement on either side.
I think the answer might be ice cream. Stella, three years old today, doesn’t seem to care much about anyone that was alive, even last week. She is focused and delightfully ignorant of war and earthquakes.
Hold tight to your beliefs. Please don’t hit anyone with them. Beliefs can kill.
Ella would like to play.
