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One of the biggest debates riding the Blogosphere is about God. Does He exist? Is evolution an act of His or is it by dint of science alone that Humans are created?
My own personal tale began when I was brought to Israel in 1983 for my Bar Mitzvah. Going to Jerusalem during December, I was Bar Mitzvahed at the Western Wall, walked the Via Delarosa, and was at the Dome of the Rock. So I have seen all three major Religions act on their best behavior. I have visited Churches and gone to many Jewish Temples. In a way, I am a secular Jew, but I have Faith that God exists. Why?
Throughout my lifetime, Rabbi's have spoken, "We are attacked in every generation," Not by reason of what the Jews have accomplished, not by reason of how well we adapt to any other country, but by reason of our very existence.
The last major person to try to wipe us out? A vegetarian, German, National Socialist, Athiest. A lack of Faith in a higher being aloud Hitler to believe he was the highest being of all. Lack of faith did not hinder Stalin from murdering millions either, or Pol Pot, the list goes on.
How can we, as finite beings, measure anything against the infinite? Growing up in New York City, I learned evolution at school and followed up with a trip to Museum of Natural History. I also went to Hebrew School and learned that the first words of Genesis were not written until King David's time. Between storytelling and evolutionary history, both stories are similar. After all, how do you measure the seven days when there is no reckoning of time?
And how does humanity get it's start? Do you believe we are random beings thrown up into the world like Pizza on a ceiling? What caused the evolutionary spark that brought us from one-celled organism to carbon based life form? As you can see, I do not deny the existence of science. It is just the beginning I see us betting against the infinite.
If there is an acid test for God, it is in the personal life. Beliefs are shaped not by Scientific method, but by our lives and what happens during that time. Even if I am wrong, Faith has gotten me through some hard times. If you do not believe that is fine, but don't laugh at individual faith, who knows how close they have been to the infinite?
Sunday, July 08, 2007
3 comments:
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greetings from the great city of your birth :) I hope you are well. I am having a wonderful time here, and I sent you a post card yesterday. I hope things are progressing, this is a wonderful post as always
ReplyDeleteI agree that God exists whether God is called God, YHWH, Shekinah Allah, the One, the I AM.
ReplyDeleteThe existence God was proved by my survival in situations that should probably resulted in my untimely end.
The existence of god is furhter reinforced by many of the small wonders I have seen in the last twelve years, including the rebirth of an old friend who has risen from the ashes of her old life like a Phoenix after its burning day.
JSF, this is a great journey you're on. I hope it leads you out of secularism into a commitment. Secularism places human life into nothing greater than animals or machines. This is the belief that engenders utilitarian thinking which is no better than bad religion in terms of the evils it creates.
ReplyDeleteTrue religion provides a moral center which creates a strong culture. The Jewish people have had nothing short of a miraculous history. When you read stories of unwinnable odds in battles last century, the deliverances, the faith and the courage displayed were amazing. Jews are always at their finest when fighting evil rather than sitting silent. I hope this is the path they take today as well.