Posted by Drunken Uncle Hal at modem-65a.nyc.fcc.net on October 26, 1999 at 22:56:08:
In Reply to: I'll be nice posted by B. Buster on October 26, 1999 at 17:20:23:
: The serious religious stuff still sounds a bit fuzzy to me. I don't understand what Kevin means when he has Chris Rock's character say that it doesn't matter what your faith is, only that you have faith (this certainly isn't in the spirit of Christ's teaching).
I took that as meaning that no particular religion or denomination is "right" or "wrong". Whether you're Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, or you just smash clocks in the name of Fotamecus, it's all kinda the same category: people who have faith in some sort of higher aspect of the universe, and who want what's best for everyone. People who look down on other types of religion/spirituality as inferior are totally missing the point.
And if I'm wrong about that, then Kevin, this is your cue...
: And that bit about "ideas" being superior to "beliefs" still doesn't make much sense to me.
I THINK I know what Kevin was getting at... but if I'm correct, then it was very awkwardly worded.
I think he was trying to say that instead of believing in absolutes, we should be open to other possibilities. We should be open-minded enough to accept that ANY of our beliefs could be wrong, and that they're really all just guesses.
Crap, that made no sense...
Take me, for example. I'm an agnostic, but I lean very strongly toward atheism. My best guess is that God doesn't exist... but since I don't know that for a FACT, I acknowledge that God MIGHT be real. So instead of BELIEVING that God is false, I SUSPECT ("have a pretty good idea") that God is false. If God showed up in front of me, I'd simply change my mind.
Am I right, Kevin...?