Friday, April 28, 2017

Rejecting Faith

I am bothered when people present, "questioning faith" as a negative.

Questioning and curiosity are part of human nature.  Without questions, we would never learn.  Without questions, man never would have explored space, never would have adventured into the unknown parts of the world,  never would have invented the iPhone.

Is faith something you establish once, all at one time, and then any deviation from your initial thought is considered a questioning and rejection of your faith?  Certainly my faith in God now is entirely different than it was as a child.

Faith is something that grows and changes every moment.  How is it possible to view this process negatively?

Another oft-used term is, "rejection."  I do not see how any existence of belief in God or a higher power is a rejection of faith.  Perhaps your particular path to commune with God has changed, or your belief in the expectations He has for you in this life, but does that really call for the label that you have "rejected" faith?

Why does a realization that your path may be different than you once thought have to have so much negativity attached?   As a child, I told everyone I encountered that I was going to be a "Vegetarian" when I grew up so I could take care of animals every day.  Once I Iearned the accurate term of "Veterinarian," and that I'd also be responsible for putting animals down, I changed my mind.  No one criticized me for abandoning my future career path and I received much encouragement to continue searching.

Most often, the members of the sect of faith that is being questioned are the ones who object.  Last year, an article was published about how some Malawi girls are forced to have sex with a man, known as a "hyena," after their first period.  This act is believed, in their faith, to be a sexual cleansing and to keep the family safe from diseases and disaster.  If a girl refuses this, she does not know what calamities will befall her family.  In their culture, rejecting that faith is a terrible thing.  But to those of us on the outside, we see rejection of those beliefs as life-saving and liberating.

If a person changes from Catholic to Protestant to LDS to Non-Denominational, that person is not a rejector of faith 4 times over.  That person is human and curious and constantly searching for their individual path to a higher power.

We are all simply trying to find our personal way to most connect with the divine.  I truly believe that path is different for each one of us.  I truly believe that our higher power knows we are human and prone to err.  I truly believe that we are all on earth to love and be loved.


* http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-36843769?ocid=socialflow_twitter