THOTH Posted June 24, 2004 Report Share Posted June 24, 2004 more - from another site (http://westernreformtaoism.org/home.php) I was never particularly comfortable with the idea of Christianity, because it simply didn't make sense to me. How could people blindly trust their lives to the writings in a two thousand-year-old book? The answer, I was told, was "faith." But when I asked why Christians had faith, the answer was "The Bible." Is this circular logic, or is it just me? Christianity also seemed to have a serious Achilles' Heel, arising from the undeniable existence of evil in the world. God is generally described by Christianity and the New Testament as omnibenevolent, omniscient, and omnipotent. If that description is accurate, though, then God is logically incapable of allowing or causing evil to exist. In other words, the existence of God and the existence of evil are mutually exclusive. Both cannot exist simultaneously. It was this argument, above all else, that convinced me that the existence of God, at least in the form envisioned by the Christianity of my youth, is very unlikely. The most appealing aspect of Taoism, though, was that it didn't claim to be "divinely-inspired." Laotse never claimed to have been visited by a deity and commanded to write the Tao Te Ching. He wrote it because he observed patterns in the world around him -- patterns that didn't require blind faith and acceptance of logical contradiction to recognize -- and realized that everything must be connected somehow. "Some people try very hard to impress a deity in whom they believe, in order to gain special favors or blessings, but this is only a fantasy that demonstrates the person's lack of true spiritual development. Unconditional sincerity is what evokes a response form the subtle realm of universal divine power." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasun Posted June 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2004 A wise old man was living in the mountains. One day he found a huge valuable diamond. After some time, a poor man came to his hut and begged for food. The wise man invited him in, and the guest ate to his heart's content. Then he discovered the diamond and he asked the wise man to give it to him. The wise man took the diamond and gave it to the poor guest, who happily went his way. With the proceeds of this stone he would have no material problems whatsoever till the end of his life. The next morning however, the poor man came again to the wise man's hut and returned the diamond. "I was thinking about it the whole night," said the poor man. "Don't give me the diamond. Give me what made you give me diamond." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nakharar Posted June 27, 2004 Report Share Posted June 27, 2004 It takes some sort of "faith" to realize that everything must be connected somehow. Though faith doesn't have to be something metaphysical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasun Posted June 28, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2004 It takes some sort of "faith" to realize that everything must be connected somehow. Though faith doesn't have to be something metaphysical. Yep, can't be without faith. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anoushik Posted June 28, 2004 Report Share Posted June 28, 2004 (edited) Yes, but why does faith need to have connections with God? Edit. There is no need to make everything religious. Edited June 28, 2004 by anoushik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasun Posted June 28, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2004 Yes, but why does faith need to have connections with God? It does not necessarily. Edit. There is no need to make everything religious. I can see your point Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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