Is God a Delusion? - Part 2

Eruptions are shocking affairs - whether they be of a volcanic or personal nature. When relationships, work, homes, studies have to change then inevitably so do we - the uprooting allows for and facilitates growth, but various types of pain are an unavoidable, quintessential and necessary component within these transitions. When a woman gives birth to a child I can only imagine that the pains of labour can be borne out because she knows how majestically beautiful the outcome will be: the newborn child whom she has carried and nurtured for 9 months is finally making his/her natural progression to becoming a more independant human being - the process will continue, it will be slow, many tears will be shed on the journey, yet it is one which never fails to command awe.

The transformation from faith is the mother of all explosive events as it rocks the house foundations upon which our very beings are meant to operate from. Many humans seem to spend their whole lives in the womb of their church dogma, unquestionably feeding off all that is put before them. Others make a natural progression, learning to pick and choose what their faith offers - a la carte religious observance is hardly a fair assessment of most faith's adherents - my own experience is that most skip the apperitifs, starters and main course opting instead for a whole range of desserts. And who could blame them - wouldn't life suck if they didn't?

It is hardly the liberals or libertarians in the church who are a la carte though! The self-labelled 'pro-life' quarter in the U.S. or Poland (or Youth Defence in Ireland) are less strict to ethical absolutism when it comes to the post-natal human - whether it be in their support for militarism and war or the death penalty.
Most if not all of us adherents to 'the faith' pick and choose from the 'pick n' mix' on offer - and once we don't rock the boat too much we know we will never be excommunicated or even challenged to stop sitting on the fence.

I'm open and welcome to berating here - those who wish to give me a bashing for opening a pandora's box of reactionary post-blind Catholic rhetoric, abandoning (or even for questioning) the fundamental tenets of the faith (which I examine in another part) should keep in mind that I've done things like the Lough Derg pilgrimage; Lourdes (twice); was a seminarian for two years; have very good friends who are religious nuns, priests and brothers; abided by strict lenten fasts (no, I'm not boasting - and still believe this is a healthy ritual); scaled Croagh Patrick bootless; and engaged in a host of other religious self-sacrificial overtures for a host of reasons, some inherently selfless and some retrospectively more selfishly motivated.

The point I'm trying to make here is that I am trying to engage in some serious relection on the role of religion and non-religious faith in my life and more generally the impact it has on our societies, in an honest attempt to catch a glimpse of what it means to live an ethical life outside a framework of Christianity or religiousity. I ain't abandoning the faith just yet - rather, I'm seeking a proper framework to define what faith it is I actually adhere to.

I've seen and known genuine attempts at atonement from genuinely good religious and non-religious human beings who have done little or no wrong in their lives - indeed, if anyone on earth has come close to leading lives embodying a lack of original (or not so original) sin then I'm pretty sure my mum and dad and their friends would have a good shot at being in the top 10.

The above image is from the this linked website