Entries Tagged 'Questions' ↓

It is hard to ignore Evolution in discussions about religion and the origin of life/meaning of life. It has been on my mind recently as I’m in the middle of Diversity of Life and watching Planet Earth (stunningly gorgeous btw, if the LDS church wanted to expand the temple ceremony they could probably just insert the Planet Earth series in the creation story, a modern mural of art).

Watching the evolution-religion discussion is particularly interesting due to the extremely strong reactions it produces from both sides. Continue reading →

This is all in good fun. I got a kick out of some of his little side comments.

Behind the silliness are some potentially more serious and thought-provoking questions:

Is chance really the driving mechanism behind our lives? Is the family, location, and religion of our birth simply chance? Is all of life an accident? That is the answer of science. I’m in the middle of reading E.O. Wilson’s The Diversity of Life and in a section I recently read he makes the point that everything, the diversity of life, all of it, is an accident, “beauty arises from error.” Life is a statistical anomaly. There is no plan, there is no meaning. Continue reading →

Some more thoughts:

What should we be doing? Well, first off, we should be thinking about that question. What should we be thinking about? What should we be doing? Such contemplation will allow us to examine ourselves to “know thyself” to identify our values and priorities and ultimately to realign our behavior according to high principles and high ideals.

Of course, this question assumes we ’should’ be doing some things over others. I think that word is appropriate if we want to do the most good. There are levels of goodness just as there are levels of beauty, and yes it’s somewhat in the eyes of the beholder but there are some ‘goods’ that are inherently more good than others just as such things as symmetrical faces are universally judged to be more beautiful than unsymmetrical faces. Not the best comparison but I do think we are faced with multiple ‘goods’ and some ‘goods’ are better than others. Continue reading →

The primary questions on the test of life, as discussed in a previous post, imply that we should be (1) seeking to understand God’s plan and desires for us and (2) focusing on relationships and how we think and act towards those around us. As we consider specific activities I would say that many choices are not between good and bad but between good and good. There are an endless number of activities that would fall under the categories of things we ’should be doing.’ The test is ultimately of the heart, the desires which will be evidenced in our choices although not to perfect execution. Continue reading →

Our time on this earth is of a finite duration. Considering it takes time to do anything there will be some things which we cannot do, requiring us to make choices. Our choices become a direct measure of our priorities and values. What then, should we be doing with our limited time? An exploration:

First, what do we see mankind generally doing with their time? Continue reading →

In previous posts I have mentioned the concept of this earth life being a testing experience.  So, what is on the exam?  Why would there need to be a test?  How is this earthly experience an appropriate test?  These are  the line of questions I want to chew on this week. Continue reading →

Once again I think this is a problem many thoughtful individuals have with religion in general. Multiple religions claim to be the correct path while at the same time having rather harsh statements about those who are not with them, even to the point of the unfortunates burning in fire for all eternity. Such statements do not seem to ring true to those who believe in principles of justice and mercy and of a God with the same characteristics. Even those who are members of faiths that have such doctrines will usually themselves voice beliefs about justice and mercy in regards to those outside of their own faith although their own faith does not have doctrinal justification for doing so. Those who cannot stand the duplicity often feel there is no alternative but to throw their hands up in the air and dismiss it all, some even haughtily proud of themselves for recognizing the dilemma. A seeker, if troubled by this particular dilemma, would not be satisfied with a question mark. Continue reading →

I think some people today, in this age of reason, find religion fundamentally foolish as defined by various ’strange’ practices and beliefs. All religions seem to have them: The Old Testament has fantastic stories of men getting swallowed by fish, 900 year olds, and talking snakes and donkeys. The Catholics talk about eating the literal flesh and blood of their God. The Orthodox light candles and put them in front of shrines enclosing pieces of bone and hair from dead saints. The Protestants have a God that stopped talking two thousand years ago and put ultimate faith in a book pieced together by a committee. The Muslims pray to one particular city, walk around a stone, and believe Arabic is the only language through which God communicates. Buddhists built colossal sculptures of a certain philosopher, give food to the dead, and spin wheels as prayers. Hindus have an incredible assembly of Gods living in soap opera dramas. The Mormons talk about angels handing over stacks of gold metal plates to a boy who translated it by looking through special stones. They are all quite fantastic when viewed from the outside. Why would they all have elements like that? If there is truth behind them why would God use such strange mechanisms? Continue reading →

My feeling is that religious thought is imbedded within every human soul. If you want to say our brains are hardwired for it or if you want to say our spirits have a sense of homesickness, an eternal longing outside of this world, I think both make the point that there is something, call it intuition, conscience, or whatever, that something, that causes mankind to seek for the divine, the ultimate something, which explains for the order and beauty in the universe; the power that must exist to overcome the natural pull to disorder, entropy. And so men go about trying to make the connection themselves, inventing gods, myths, and various explanations.

I also believe that God has, at certain times in the course of human history, intervened to setup and reveal his purposes and desires. Therefore certain strands of religion could be considered deviant offspring of a once pure understanding. Continue reading →

In terms of the questions of life and people who claim certain knowledge the obvious question is ‘how do you know that is true’? or even ‘can’ certain things be known about the purpose of life, life and death and the like. For a comprehensive philosophical exploration of the question I would point people to a lecture given by Truman Madsen entitled “Belief and Knowledge” in Timeless Questions Gospel Insights.

From a less philosophical perspective, my thoughts: As I look around the world today I see a couple dominant answers: (1) an ultimate confidence in science having the answers (2) the sentiment that all religions are the same and that we can’t really know the answers, so why worry about it, or (3) the thoughtless adoption of answers according to the culture one has inherited. Continue reading →