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Originally Posted by theirontower
Personally I went to a Christian school as a young boy until the age of 8 or 9, when the priests and I fell out badly due to my questions and their anger. That situation has been a defining moment in my life since then. As a college debater I was driven by the need to know, then exited the scene understanding that there is no "know" there is only perspective.
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This sort of thing makes me sad -- though, and especially since, it needn't happen. The godly way of life bears explanation. Perhaps you should not have taken their impatience, though, for not having an answer. One of those priests probably did, but you didn't find him nor hear it. It's the sort of thing one can often better follow or understand with an adult mind.
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I think organized religion is a cheater's way out. We weren't meant to follow a book to god, we have to find it in our way, each of us. That book takes all the discourse out of it. How do you sit on a rock in the middle of no where and talk to god if all the answers are in that book? Its so easy to be told that these are the rules god laid out, now be a good boy. It just doesn't give much room for spiritual progression or enlightenment. Personally, I have never felt the presence of god around other people or their creations, only when I am in the deep outdoors all by myself do I feel the presence of divinity.
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Offhand, I'd say you've the makings of a good Unitarian. Other denominations encourage thinking, but you
have to work your brains to make Unitarianism a strong faith.
That book, though, does have the ability to help clarify your thinking, suggest questions to consider and, aye, to meditate upon. Most sacred texts have that property, and I suppose one may do as well as another. There was a time when I thought as you do, but now I'm finding more and more good stuff in the philosophical verses of the Bible (the legalistic ones being mainly relevant to that time and that place). I'm particularly fond of, if but little schooled in, Proverbs and the Psalms this way. I just read through Ps. 18, just for fun. There are times when one must remark, with James Michener, "Ours is a very gutsy religion."
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Right and wrong are issues of perspective.
Harmony is more important.
Steve
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Some are moral absolutists, some are not. I am. And harmony only reliably occurs associated with good in any case.