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To: Tax-chick
Therefore, even if I believe another person's faith is totally erroneous, I still respect him or her as a "person of faith," with the same inborn capacity to engage with the Divine as I have.

But don't you see? By that reasoning, faith is more powerful than truth, or else the truth cannot be known beyond something that is divine and honors what man honors. A man may have the capacity to believe--fervently, I might add--that he is a six-foot tall glass of orange juice. I would be as crazy as he to commend him for his faith. Rather, I should recommend him to the county mental health facilities!

Your general idea is right, though. We should accept people where they are right now, but not hesitate to speak to them of Truth, in love and genuine concern.
3,341 posted on 04/16/2006 5:11:47 PM PDT by Das Outsider (Are Marxist academics and apostate bishops trustworthy enough to tell you about the *real* Jesus?)
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To: Das Outsider; Tax-chick
"But don't you see? By that reasoning, faith is more powerful than truth ..."

I caught a glimmer of hope for logic in this statement. But then I realised that Faith is not antithetical to Truth, nor is it coincidental.

Truth is a single immutable gnomon, around which Faiths like shadows pool. At any particular time one Faith may seem to be illustrative of Truth, but times change.

Truth and Logic are primordial concepts, having little to do with more advanced constructions such as Salvation. Still, even though we stumble blindly through the unknown territories, we recognize the solid reality of Truth, and the cool respite of Faith.

3,356 posted on 04/16/2006 5:40:59 PM PDT by NicknamedBob (I don't want a World with empty dreams ... Dump the 1967 Outer Space Treaty Now! ... Farm Mars!)
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To: Das Outsider
By that reasoning, faith is more powerful than truth, or else the truth cannot be known beyond something that is divine and honors what man honors.

No, that's not what I meant. I believe that truth is absolute and can be known, by reason and revelation. However, the fact that a person believes something in error does not diminish that person *as a person*. He still has the capacity to know the truth, and to engage with the truth through faith, according to his personal conditions.

We should accept people where they are right now, but not hesitate to speak to them of Truth, in love and genuine concern.

I think we should hesitate, long enough to consider the circumstances and the potential benefit or harm. My discussion of "Undead Thread Religion Etiquette," so to speak, was situation-specific. In this immediate situation, we have a gentlemen's-and-ladies' agreement to avoid religious disputes, because there are other places for that, while this is "a space apart."

We know we have differences, but when we discuss them, it's in the way of exchanging information, rather than attempting to persuade. For example, a person with a question about Catholic belief or practice can ask it here, and get an answer from several informed parties, and then disengage, without being asked whether he accepts what the Catholic Church teaches. The same with a Protestant, any type; a Jew, any variety; an Asatru (that's Dead Corpse, I googled it!), or anything else.

3,359 posted on 04/16/2006 5:44:13 PM PDT by Tax-chick ("Life is too short to drink bad wine." ~ The Captain)
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