“You’ve just got to have faith.”
I heard this innumerable times growing up. Usually after a heated debate about religious ideas. Faith is a central part of many religious traditions, and it certainly was in my evangelical community. I have a problem with faith, to be honest. In the conversations I’ve had throughout the years, I’ve noticed that many people use “faith” as an excuse for intellectual laziness.
I had a terrible experience with Christianity growing up. I was lied to, pressured, and scared into believing things which turned out to be nonsense. Because of this, I hold a lot of resentment and bitterness towards the Christian community. Though I am persuaded by the philosophy of Jesus Christ, I believe it stands in contrast to the philosophy of most Christians I’ve ever met.
I’ve never liked Ethics. To me, most ethical questions contain unexamined presuppositions and frame philosophical problems in the wrong way. A central question in Ethics is: for any given situation, what’s the “right thing to do”? Growing up in a Christian evangelical household, I heard this question a million times. But it’s a misleading question which causes more confusion than clarity.
This is the most personal article I’ve ever written. It’s about love, but it’s not meant to make you feel fuzzy inside. My goal isn’t to inspire or impress you; it’s to be completely honest.
Two years ago, my outstanding mother died.
You know how they say, “When a loved one dies, a part of you dies”? It’s true. My mother loved me every day of my life for 23 years; it was a fact of life. When she died, that part of my life died. Not in any dramatic way – just literally, a massive human connection in my life disappeared.