Is Faith Enough?
Dec
5
Written by:
12/5/2011 12:32 PM
(The following rant represents the personal views of the Magister only and not necessarily those of the members of this Order)
Faith [Feyth] – noun: confidence or trust in a person or thing; belief that is not based on proof. These are the top two definitions of the word faith at dictionary.com. This morning (Wednesday, September 29, 2010) The Globe and Mail carried an article entitled “In God they trust – in many cases blindly”. It was a summary of a recent study showing that many Americans know little about their professed “faith”. I surmise that the same can be said about most people, whether they are American, Canadian, German, French or whatever.
Needless to say – the world is shocked. There was even a reference to this article as the topic of the day at Dictionary.com, which I just visited to get the meaning of the word “faith” (see above). I, however, am not the least bit surprised.
You see, most religions are premised on faith. It’s all you need to be religious. You just have to have faith that the preacher, the pope, priest or whatever is telling you the truth. You need confidence and trust, not critical thinking and proof. You don’t even need to know about the roots of your religion, it’s history, it’s teachings or it’s dogma.
Although often accused of being elitist, in our path you must study the theory, history, science and development of our practices. You must devote yourself to understanding the laws and axioms which delineate our path. You must vow to never blindly accept the word of others with respect to the path, but learn from all paths. (The exact words that they vow to are “never be led blindly”).
Which of these is smarter and psychologically healthier? Is it any wonder that modern religions are morally corrupt, financially bankrupt and dangerously fundamental? Not in my mind. It is almost psychotic to believe in something without lending it any critical thought.
The report stated that 45% of Catholics polled did not know that during the rite of Holy Communion the church teaches that the Eucharist offerings actually undergo transubstantiation – the bread actually becomes Christ’s body and the wine actually becomes Christ’s blood. 45%! I am pleased to report that 100% of our initiates know the position of the elements in ritual, and the reasons for all of the ritual words and movements during a celebratory rite.