Beyond Belief

As someone that grew up in an evangelical environment, I was inevitably ingrained with religious dogma and grew accustomed to the constant shame that seems to keep the common Christian feeling helpless enough to believe in God. But when it comes to the meaning of faith, I have a few thoughts that I must share.

What is Faith? How do you define Faith? Most modern Christians and undoubtedly people of all "faiths", have gravely mistaken the meaning of this powerful word. Oxford Dictionary states: "confidence or trust in a person or thing".

True faith is a beautiful thing, especially in the context of atheism. What better faith to embrace fully your existence in the universe without submitting to ego and fear by placing a matrix of beliefs over reality? To me, dogma and doctrine are tools to make the faith"less" feel more comfortable in a world that is ever changing, and a consciousness that is fleeting. But there is no bleakness in this uncertainty, and I'm not the only one who thinks so.

"I was dead for millions of years before I was born and it never inconvenienced me a bit."
- Mark Twain

"That it will never come again, is what makes life so sweet."
- Emily Dickinson

"I do not believe in immortality of the individual, and I consider ethics to be an exclusively human concern with no superhuman authority behind it."
- Albert Einstein

(Clap)
-Zen Master