Finding different points of view

I've been looking high and low for different views on faith. The internet is overflowing with people from all backgrounds spewing forth bile and diatribe with uncontrolled ferocity - leaving the balanced views to the side to be overshadowed and ignored. There are a few gems out there such as secretsofmybelief.tumblr.com/ but they are nevertheless few and far between.

To cut a long story short, I was wondering where or how others inform their opinions on faith?

For me, (and I don't expect others to share my views), it has been useful to distinguish between man-made gods, and the idea of real Divinity.
This involved putting Jehovah, (who I suspect was a tribal war-god long before the Israelites adopted him), where he belonged, alongside Hercules, Zeus, Aphrodite and the rest.
Now I can read the bible without getting angry when told that several categories of people should be stoned, eg blasphemers, disobedient children, homosexuals, those who plant two crops in the same field ...
... since I don't see it as sacrosanct, the idiocies can be ignored, and the inspirational parts cherished.
It's a strange and much distorted collection of ancient books for me - to be handled with care.

As for faith, I really don't know. For me, God plus ego equals man -- man minus ego equals God. (Bhagwan's words I think). No need of faith there.
And as Paul said, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Not much different from hope then ...

In my more cynical moments, I feel that faith is believing in something we know isn't true, and that hope is just another thing you can die of.
But when I recognise the care that the cosmos takes of me, how safe my soul really is, it's a feeling, not faith. Faith is in the head, not the heart.
And God is Love.


Bebopaloobop a lam bam boom ! (Hildegard of Bingen).

I hear what the others say
but I will not be led astray
I am way too grey for fairy tales

I have faith in my best guess
I'd rather face the wilderness
than follow those who follow dead-end trails

free to be forever me
doomed to be forever free.

Kerry, I love that phrase:

God plus ego = man

Man minus ego = God

That phrase sums up my entire philosophy on life. It is quite a difficult job to lose ego, as all people have ego attach. But we can grow to the point where we accept ourselves for what we are, and once that is done, we have a chance to deal with the ego.

All of my freeEbooks are written about the truth of the ego. I wouldn't have had to do any of that had humanity accepted your phrase. All I have to do (and I did it today) is tell my life story to a Christian and I will be condemned and stopped before I can even get close to finishing.

If I just tell the story about JFK giving a very open public speach about how the American people need to stop secret societies from controling government, a Christian will stop me. They have their blinders and are fear-based. Fear is the opposite of love, and that is the only choice for a spritual person....fear or love.

I am a walking time bomb. People fear me so intensely that if I tell any of my story I will have to look for a new job. I am looking for a job today. Society as a whole is fear-based, and they actually have a good reason to be...if they are egoic. It takes a strong person to overcome ego...but with help from an honest person, the suffering can be survived-not erased, but survived.

So many good people here. I am blessed to be tolerated.

Wade

Hi SecretsoftheMind,
I've also struggled trying to find something new and spiritually edifying in literature.
There are a lot of good quotes from people - even if I don't agree with everything they say, many (including those on forums like this) have had gems that I've written down and tried to apply.
I think that I've been too focused on words and logic, and I need to focus more within - maybe creativity.

To keep the peace in my family, my husband & I attend church with our kids each Sunday, even though I don't believe as most do there.
I am involved in a way that I don't hear too much doctrine, but today I was moved by a sister who was talking about Jesus - his birth and death & was crying. I looked at one of her pictures of Jesus' body after he died and his loved ones were gathered around, mourning. Personally, I don't choose to believe in human sacrifice and scapegoats - which basically the story of Jesus has been warped to be. Still, I was moved by thinking about the inevitability of death & by the idea of anybody loving someone so much to sacrifice their life. Many have done this - our mothers for one, sacrificed a lot for us to exist. When I think about the essence of spirituality - it doesn't matter if you call it, "Spirit", Jesus, Christ, Allah, etc. It's the same, just different labels.

Really, we can only communicate via symbols - which isn't very exact, and always leaves a lot of personal interpretation. There may have been teachers, parents etc. telling us what to think when we were younger, but now, we can decide how to think. It will always be limited & subjective, but given that thoughts affect us so greatly, it makes sense to work toward functional illusions, rather than dysfunctional ones.

I've redefined "Christian" or LDS words so that instead of bugging me when I hear a preachy lecture of cognitive distortions in church, instead, I am inspired.
IE:
Atonement: harmonize so that ego and higher self are "at one."
Celestial: Christ/Divine Consciousness
Commandments: spiritual guidance
God: Love
Love: hoping, resonating with & striving for what is best through trial & error - active faith
Covenant with God: Covenant to love
Cross/Lamb/Redemer/Savior: ours and others' sacrifices/help for spiritual progress
Gospel: "Good news" - new perspectives of truth
"He lives": Love lives and spiritual help is always available to us
Jesus: Guide to Christ Consciousness, Christ is what he became & we can become
Baby Jesus: birth of consciousness, after (Mary's) hard labor
Kingdom (realm/experience) of God/Heaven: Spiritual connection within
Sin: Incorrect thinking
Evil: nobody's perfect, so evil is not really evil, unless one tries to make others pay for their imperfection
Repent: Correct one's thinking
Salvation: healing by correcting one's thinking
Satan/Adversary: unhealed parts of us (shadow self), incorrect thinking that causes pain
Temple: our body, mind & soul - or a place to connect spiritually
Lord's second coming/Heaven on earth: When we've healed and can be agents for healing others