by Richard Sprigg

Created on: November 02, 2008

There is no dichotomy involved in having faith in the existence of a Supreme being, a creator, yet not accepting the canons of one particular church or even one particular religion.
God may have made mankind, but mankind made the church; it is, therefore, imbued with all the fallibility, prejudice and brutality that characterize the worst our species as well as our better qualities.

I have, perhaps, been fortunate in being able to meet with representative individuals of many different faiths. It has become clear to me that outside the individual cultural trappings there is a sincere faith that an intelligence exists that is beyond the normal human range. Also that this intelligence is directing the overall progress of human development and that this direction is benevolent.

There is no need for buildings; the Creator is not in need of shelter.
There is no need for priests; do you think that the intelligence that could form a universe needs an interpreter?

If you need to talk to the creator, seek him out, he is everywhere; we walk every day through a bright miracle of beauty and ecstasy.

When the early missionaries arrived in India, they berated the priests for worshipping stone images, rather than the almighty God in heaven.
The Priests replied "Is not God Everywhere?"
The Missionaries replied "Of course he is!"
The Priests responded "Then is he not in the statue?"
The missionaries, predictably, were speechless. (Except in their letters home.)

It was the representative of a Church that issued the warcry "Kill all, God shall know his own!" initiating a crusade against a "heretical" church. The Creator has no equal; he is not overly concerned about competition, but it is the way of mankind to seek to dominate, to hate and to destroy.

Similarly, many leaders of the Lutheran church expressed great admiration for Hitler in his anti Jewish policies; (some have noted that for the Lutheran Church in the 1930's to express approval of a Catholic is in and of itself a miracle.)
Once more, this is the work of men, venial and vindictive, responding to a belief set inculcated in them since birth.

I use the word "Faith" rather than "Belief".

I interpret "Belief" to mean an acceptance of a specific theorem without a shred of evidence.
"Faith" I interpret as acceptance of a specific theorem based on evidence that tends to be personal to the individual and not demonstrable to others.
Faith is a blessing from God, Belief is created by men to control other men..

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