What is Faith? Is blind faith healthy?

                 Is it possible that blind faith is the mother of doubt and fear? The faith that Jesus speaks of “faith to move a mountain” can only be achieved by “Knowing.” I can have blind faith that the snake I'm holding will not kill me. This would breed doubt and fear. However if I had the information and knowledge that this was a friendly nonpoisonous snake, then I would “Know” it would not kill me, therefore having “real Faith.” I propose that the meaning and definition of faith may have been misinterpreted. The traditional interpretation of faith seems very vague and nebulous to me. Could we imagine Jesus having this kind of blind faith before walking on water? Or did he Know? Was there any question, doubt, or fear that walking on water was possible? And was this “Know” created by information and knowledge about physics or the nature of our reality we are not privy to?

            Knowledge, information, and reason have always seemed to be separated from faith, spirituality or religion. But is this correct? Has not the lack of knowledge and ignorance been the leading cause of past evils? Would the Salem witch trials or the “Inquisition” and even the tele-evangelist of the 1990s occurred with our present day access to information and evolved knowledge? The answer I believe is clear. So if the conclusion is that more knowledge and information helps to find Truth and live more like Jesus did then why don't we apply some of our information, knowledge, experience, over the past 2000 years towards the words of Jesus? Most core Christian beliefs are still the same today as they were when the conventional thinking was that the world was flat. So the question is can new information about quantum physics and the nature of matter in our physical reality help to create a “Knowing”?

 The problem I believe is these two modalities or disciplines have been mutually separate. I believe this goes back to the heavy persecution by the Catholic Church against Galileo and the like. Because their discoveries threatened church doctrine, and most of all Power. There seems to be an idea that spiritual evolution is somehow a bad thing. Most have the idea that these traditional interpretations and doctrines of the Bible can not be updated. This of course is erroneous. We can easily see how for instance the structure of government has evolved in most countries to serve us better. If old rigid and traditional beliefs of the necessity of a king or monarchy were deemed sacred and unchangeable, then we would live in a far different world today.

 Jesus said the “truth will set you free” so why don't we believe Him? This quote from Jesus is a good example of his style of teaching. Like most of what Jesus said this can be interpreted in many ways. His message was not a clear, objective, direct or absolute message. His own disciples did not understand most of it. Jesus said those with “eyes to see and ears to hear”. So what was the delivery of Jesus's message and teachings? Were they a simple straightforward blueprint to heaven? Or like any great artist will tell you, was his message structured so the individual can find personal meaning and interpretation? Any student of Psychology or teacher knows a student who feels they “discovered” the answer themselves is much more impacted than if the student were to copy the Teachers beliefs verbatim. Jesus knew this. He had the insight and knowledge of the workings of the human mind. He understood that there could not be “one shoe” that fit all. Because people have very different life experiences that make “one way” impossible.

 For example, how could anyone who experienced or witnessed the countless evils of the Catholic Church be liable for the idea of an “Absolute way” or the “one shoe” of Christianity? In recent times, hundreds of thousands of gay Christians have been shunned from churches and disowned by their families. How would those people, based on their life experiences and exposure to that “Christianity” and that “jesus” want anything to do with it? I believe the answer is obvious, but what can we learn from this information and knowledge to gain Faith? First we have to ask ourselves in the example of the gay Christian, is that really “Christianity”? and is that really “Jesus” that they experienced? That they were exposed to? Is there an objective or absolute “Jesus and Christianity”? I believe most conventional interpretations from the church would say there is.

Okay now let's stay with that example of the gay Christian. Let's create our own church right now, for the sake of this discussion. Now in this church let's incorporate modern information, knowledge, reason and science. Now let's create just as the conventional church does an absolute “Christianity and Jesus” let's just stick with the same example of the gay Christian. Our current knowledge and understanding of homosexuality is that it is not a choice. Whether it's genetic or something that is established unconsciously during development is still up for debate. However all attempts to change a person's sexuality even in the faith-based program “The Exodus program” have failed. Recently the founder of the Exodus program has publicly stated that in his many years with the program “he has learned much about himself and God however his sexual orientation has not changed.”

 Now let's look at the facts. Jesus said nothing about homosexuality. The only mention in the Bible is in the Old Testament, and Jesus’s New Covenant makes that law irrelevant. You can’t pick and choose from old Jewish law to fit your agenda. You would have to take all of it. Which would include killing your child if they talk back, selling your daughters into slavery, and beating your slaves. Making sure of course the beatings do not kill them in a three-day period. I know this is a lengthy example but are we not starting to see that “the truth can set us free”?

 So back to our church. Let's add another element to our church. Let's say that this church knows nothing of contemporary or traditional views on homosexuality. We read the same Bible and interpret it through our modern understanding and knowledge. So we unanimously conclude that homosexuals are welcomed and equally loved in the eyes of God. We naturally assume that Jesus may have had a gay disciple or gay follower and would think nothing of it. So our churches absolute or objective “Christianity and Jesus” are far different than the conventional “absolute Christianity and Jesus” so what does this all mean? How can we tie this all together with tolerance, acceptance, compassion, and unity?

 Is an “absolute Christianity and Jesus” really just an illusion? Has our example revealed it to be really just a subjective interpretation? Just a collective belief? Those answers and “Truths” I leave up to you, the reader, the individual.  Jesus said, “the Truth will set you free.” That “Truth” is your Truth, not mine. My Truth will only set me free.

-AVOY