When I was a child....

[ravan]

"When I was a child I spoke as a child I understood as a child I thought as a child; but when I became a man I put away childish things." I Cor. xiii. 11.

When I was a child, I believed in all the things the church taught me, without question. When I became an adult, I began to question what I'd been taught, and discovered that it did not make sense, and was layered with contradictions and hypocrisy.

Some folks never grow up, but believe the religion they are taught, without question, all of their life. They are fools.

Whatever your childhood religion, as an adult you need to question it, rigorously, and especially question those who would lead you in it. This is not to say that you must discard your belief, for sometimes questioning makes it stronger, but that you should always take the preachings of men and words written in a "holy" book with a large grain of salt.

Comments

[weofodthignen]

There's a place for fools, though. And for faith and loyalty. I think those of us to whom religion is important as a search for truth, or as a focus for our lives, need to realize that for some it's incidental, or not at all related to the intellect, or a matter of social identification. And not everyone's intelligent, either. I don't respect hypocrisy or snobbery, but . . . they're part of the human equation. And pure faith I do respect. A lot more than One Truth to Be Imposed on All-ism.

Frith,
M the moral relativist