Moreover, in our (heavily Protestant and individualist) society we're used to thinking of religion as an expression of *what one personally believes* about spiritual/supernatural issues. That's different from the role of other kinds of belief: it's taken for granted that beliefs about, say, scientific or historical facts *can't* be independent of some knowledgeable authority (except for those few scientific or historical facts that we've managed to investigate for ourselves). But the main point of religion in our society is supposedly that it expresses the convictions of individual faith. If you don't have any personal conviction about a particular point of doctrine, what's the point of adopting the church's "party line" rather than just saying "I don't know" or "I don't care"? I think that's why many people find it sillier to say "Yeah, if the authorities say so then I guess I believe it" about a religious doctrine than about a scientific fact.
Well said.
The conversations made me take a step back, so to speak. It's so true... we really can't know everything, and a lot of so-called 'truths' in our lives we just have to take leaps of faith.
Love the quote of the moment, by the way.
This is interesting - let's discuss at a later date (because it's 6 am and I'm already running late for work, and because I'd love to catch up with you). Let's try to catch up soon - maybe this holiday weekend?
Happy Turkey Day.