[Dialogue] Redefining FAITH

[R Williams]

Marsha,
 
When I say "religion" I'm thinking more in terms of the first 300 years of Christianity when it was more of a movement than an institution.  Those early Christians had no dogma, hierarchy or bureaucracy, but they had something that held them together as a community.  I'm sure there are other good historical examples of this.  Whatever that "something" was is what I mean by "religion," that which creates and sustains community.  It may be no more that a common story, style and symbol.
 
Randy
 
"Listen to what is emerging from yourself to the course of being in the world; not to be supported by it, but to bring it to reality as it desires."
-Martin Buber (adapted)

--- On Mon, 3/19/12, Marsha Hahn <mhahn013 at sbcglobal.net> wrote:


From: Marsha Hahn <mhahn013 at sbcglobal.net>
Subject: Re: [Dialogue] Redefining FAITH
To: "Colleague Dialogue" <dialogue at wedgeblade.net>
Date: Monday, March 19, 2012, 7:42 AM




I find the notion that faith does not have to be tied to any particular religious construct very freeing. This is not to say, however, that your desire to reunite faith and religion is not a worthy one for you and others. But the idea that faith is bigger than any one religion's domain - yes, that is very appealing and rings true to me. Perhaps this is because I have been unable to find a home in any organized religious tradition.


Thanks for sharing, Randy.


Marsha

Sent from my iPad

On Mar 19, 2012, at 6:43 AM, R Williams <rcwmbw at yahoo.com> wrote:









Colleagues,
 
I first knew of Jeremy Rifkin back in the 80s when I read his book Entropy.  I recently rediscovered him and find that he delves into subjects and issues that the faint of heart would never venture near.  Here's an example from his book The Empathic Civilization:
 
     ...faith (is) the belief that one's life is worth living, and for that reason alone, it (has) meaning in the larger scheme of things and therefore (needs) to be lived fully in deep connection with others.
     ...faith...can be purloined and made into a social construct that exacts obedience, feeds on fear of death, is disembodied in its approach, and establishes rigid boundaries separating the saved from the damned.  Institutionalized religions, for the most part, do just that.  (pgs 169-170)
 
Is this too harsh a judgment on Rifkin's part, or is he on target?  I continue to struggle with what I perceive to be a wedge that has been driven between faith and religion by religious institutions.  I long to see faith and religion reunited, and an appeal to what our culture is imposing as a rather simple understanding of "spirituality" in the form of "back to nature" movements, etc., does little to resolve that conflict, at least for me.
 
Randy


"Listen to what is emerging from yourself to the course of being in the world; not to be supported by it, but to bring it to reality as it desires."
-Martin Buber (adapted)

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