[1961] in Depressing_Thoughts
Re: Something I lost....
tytso@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (tytso@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Wed Mar 13 11:52:43 1991
One of the reasons why I joined the choir at Grace Episcopal Church was
to try strengthen my faith. I think that on the whole, it's been
generally successful, although there is a danger of getting too wrapped
up in the performance aspects of the service that you lose sight of the
worship.
I used to think differently, but I now think that the reason why most
people have "faith" in a religion has more to do with community of
believers that they find themselves (in the church, temple, bible study,
whatever), than with the intellectual professions of beliefs or dogmas
of that denomination.
To be sure, the intellectual beliefs are important, but they're not
enough by themselves. Some of the cults clearly demonstrate that
intellectual consistency isn't even necessary for the cult "to do well"
--- all you need is to have a strong emotional appeal. (I define "doing
well" as the leader being successful in scamming large amounts of money
from his/her devotees)
So the trick is finding a {church, temple, bible study} whose general
beliefs match your own, and which has a community of members with which
you feel comfortable with and to which you can form friendships. It's
really hard to go to a {church, temple, bible study} where if you don't
feel any bonds to your fellow members.
No, I don't think that faith is "just" the feeling of community with
other believers. But I do think that it nearly always starts with that.
To use a quote from the Bible, "For where two or three are gathered
together in My name, there am I in the midst of them." (Matt. 18:20)
