Conversation Among Friends - Religion beat became a test of faith - Comments

faith is an act of the will...

Peter — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 20:35:44 -0400

i assume there's a level of stress where pretty much everyone's faith crumbles, and i hope i never get to that point again. having said that, i believe that faith is essentially an act of the will. feelings do not much enter the equation - they do so only insofar as they dispose one towards or against faith.

so, whether i feel inspired and fully of fuzzy warm love one day or down and crabby the next, what counts is my will to do right or wrong, to have faith or to have not faith. and faith, to me, is the will to submit to the god who's love, nonwithstanding doubt and uncertainty. otherwise, people with a naturally high serotonin level would all be predestined to be saints, and guys with not enough of the same would summarily go the other way.

feelings are useful, but i don't believe the path to sainthood is paved with euphoria... interestingly, the author says he read the "Dark night of the soul". i would have thought that this states the case adequately. maybe not.

as for the church being proactive in preventing this kind of thing: i think both i and Joey can attest to the fact that the level of caution in the church we know (we may not know its darker sides) is fairly imposing. even the confessional in our church is made of glass, and classes on how to spot child predators are offered by the parishes. but, alas, where there are people, there is corruption. we are, after all, a fallen face...

ok, i'm off my soapbox now

Religion beat

Joey — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 09:20:29 -0400

Jonathan,

Very interesting article. Each of us has a journey. As for me I was "scortched" by a cult for 20 years before returning to my faith.

I have since decided that no man or his behavior will come between me and God. I refuse to be influenced by the sinful regarding the nature of the Creator. I feel dumb for letting this happen to me in the past.

This is where Lobdell flaters, IMHO. He looks for good in people as evidence for God's existence. This approach is not fool-proof.

What he didn't do was "seek first the truth". Once you find the truth you will find that there is much work to do in both the Church and the World.

Religion beat became a test of faith

Jonathan — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 22:06:49 -0400

I thought this was a really interesting story: Religion beat became a test of faith by William Lobdell in the LA Times.

It made me wonder how the church could be more successful and active in preventing and eliminating its characteristics that, in some instances, enable it to become a predator upon the weak rather than a source of love, hope, and support. I'm also especially intrigued by his observation that two people can see the same tragedies and hypocrisy or go through the same agonizing illness or loss...and one emerges with a faith that is strong while another's faith evaporates.