Confessions of a Quirky Christian Artist

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-19272-Seattle-Faith--Agnosticism-Examiner~y2009m10d21-Why-Im-a-Christian-2-I-want-to-believe Before you laugh at me and call me a fool, read my reasoning, and then laugh at me and call me a fool. In the last installment I laid out what I believe to be a rational reason for rejecting materialism. A fundamental scientific precept is that one should not reject a claim based on a philosophical bias, which materialism clearly is. Of course rejecting materialism is not the same as Christianity. It’s not even necessarily religious. But I think that’s as far as a purely rational analysis can get us. In order to move from a position that is at least open to the idea of a God, over to a specific claim about that God, requires a leap of faith. Now, the direction of that leap can be determined with rational, logical examination of claims, (such as leaping away from Zeus and a Flying Spaghetti Monster.) but since all these claims are founded on supposed revelation...

We decided to run away from the condo we bought two and half years ago. We bought it just before the housing bubble burst. It’s worth about 50 grand less than we bought it for now. My brother/roommate lost his job, so we lost his rent. My sculpting classes never took off for a variety of reasons. Heather’s medical issues are putting her in so much pain she can’t work as many hours as she used to. All this adds up to an inability to sustain our current mortgage. We heard from others various stratagies for getting out of a mortgage. I’ve got a co-worker who simply stopped paying his several months ago, and is just saving the money he would be paying, knowing that he’s going into foreclosure whenever the bank gets around to it. I thought about that. I couldn’t really do it in good conscience. I signed an agreement and I like to do what I agree to. The next best thing to foreclosure is a short sale. My other brother’s in-laws had just done this recently and they...

“On the crest of fire, our wings are burning How glorious the pain And the ways of God, shriek out of tune All is lost but hope On the crest of fire Our wings are burning To the wind's anthem All is lost but hope” ~ Virgin Black So goes the lines of a song by my favorite band of all time. Obviously very open to interpretation. I personally see the wings as those things that artificially keep us placated. Whether that’s a person, philosophy, religious idea, or false hope. I think God’s ways are narrow and very unpopular, they are out of tune with social norms and expectations as Jesus demonstrated. I’ve written about these lines before, but now I’m seeing an application to epistemology. When I first heard this song I was in the midst of my marriage falling apart and my kids were in physical and emotional danger. I had no idea what I was supposed to do: torn between a legalistic view of marriage and the natural impulse to save my kids. This song was one of those ...

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-19272-Seattle-Faith--Agnosticism-Examiner~y2009m10d6-Why-Im-a-Christian-1-God-vs-no-God I remain a Christian simply because I haven't found more compelling (to me) truth-claims that answer specific questions that I have. Materialism simply avoids these questions or says they are nonsense. (Possible) Other religions have some interesting ideas, and I think ultimately the Answers we seek are simply over our collective heads anyway. I have the feeling that all religions are merely symbols for things that we 4-dimensional beings can't comprehend. Maybe some symbols are closer than others. But since religion deals with that which is by definition transcendent, our comprehension will necessarily be imperfect. So I'm ok with not having crystal clear Truth in a religion simply because religion deals with things that science can't touch. Origin, meaning or purpose, are not things that science can speak to. Religion is the human endeavor to...