I am a bleeding heart liberal, also known as a Progressive. I am also a man of Faith. The definition of faith is; “Substance of things hoped for, evidence of things not seen.” Faith is acting on what you are told to do. According to Scripture, Abraham was told to look for a city, Hebrews 11 cites the men of faith who went looking, and working as God commanded. (Verse 13) These men of faith did not accomplish what they set out to do, but God counted it as if they had. (Verse 6 in Hebrews 11) For without Faith it is impossible to please Him. For those who come to God must believe that he is, And he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Faith, therefore cannot be proved. Those who look for proof have not Faith. (1 Corinthians 1:21-23) God’s wisdom seems foolish to some. So then, you cannot prove faith. There are lots of things I accept on Faith that can’t be proved. For instance, I believe in gravity, although it is still only a theory. But I do know that if I go on a high plateau and jump, gravity will surely bring me to my end.
What irks me are those who lie, take Scripture out of context, and betray. Republicans are good at that. No where in the Bible does God condemn abortion. In fact, He was good at killing the born and the unborn in the old Testament. When David committed adultery with Bathsheba, he killed the baby. Check your Bible. When the Israelites turned against Moses, God had the ground swallow them up. Acts 5 tells the story of Ananias, and Sapphira a man and wife who lied to the Holy Spirit and were struck dead, because they lied. They sold some land and held some money back, but said that was all of the money they had received. Of course, Republicans can pollute the air, kill with chemicals, and quote Scripture too.
Now, my fellow Progressives irk me as well, because they ignore Faith. Mike Malloy, Bill Maher, and I don’t know who else condemn those who do have Faith. These guys point out the irregularities in some with Faith. For example, no where in the Bible does it say how old the earth is. I am sure scientists have shown the development of the Earth’s stages of development, and I believe their estimations. The Bible is silent as to when the Earth was formed. Genesis 1:1 is the story of man, not of how the earth was formed. In fact, Satan is called the Lord of the Earth. It is believed that he and his Angels fought against God, and God messed up Satan’s place. A good analogy would be as if someone were to crush an egg in one’s hand. 2nd verse, “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”
The Scriptures tell us that Angels are immortal, so when God decided to make man, he put an expiration date on him. Man is mortal. I don’t know if this was a result of the “Original Sin,” but I have a feeling God saw his mistake. Satan lives now, and will as long as this earth exists, but man has a limited time on this earth. Angels have free will, as does man, both know Good from Evil. Man can repent, or turn again, I don’t think Angels can.
I feel I must clarify. My religion is Jewish, my faith is spiritual. I rarely question others beliefs or non beliefs, although I do totally concur that persons that use the Bible or the Koran for that matter to justify actions that are clearly immoral are usually just making stuff up. Religion does not define morality, so if one has no religion and/or faith, their sense of morality may still be strong.
It seems critical to note that every religion has a form of the Christian Golden Rule in their teaching. For Jews, the phrasing is different, and it references the Torah, of course. And since it is a Jewish teaching, there is a story that goes with it.
A man approaches Rabbi Hillel and says if you can explain the whole Torah while I stand on one foot, then I will convert to Judaism. The Rabbi responded, “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow: this is the whole Torah; the rest is the commentary; go and learn”.
I take that to mean that morality is our relationship to fellow humans, our relationship to God is our faith.
I feel I must clarify. My religion is Jewish, my faith is spiritual. I rarely question others beliefs or non beliefs, although I do totally concur that persons that use the Bible or the Koran for that matter to justify actions that are clearly immoral are usually just making stuff up. Religion does not define morality, so if one has no religion and/or faith, their sense of morality may still be strong.
It seems critical to note that every religion has a form of the Christian Golden Rule in their teaching. For Jews, the phrasing is different, and it references the Torah, of course. And since it is a Jewish teaching, there is a story that goes with it.
A man approaches Rabbi Hillel and says if you can explain the whole Torah while I stand on one foot, then I will convert to Judaism. The Rabbi responded, “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow: this is the whole Torah; the rest is the commentary; go and learn”.
I take that to mean that morality is our relationship to fellow humans, our relationship to God is our faith.