Where does your faith come from? I've seen "faith" used to explain a number of things, as reasons why people believe this or that. My question is: where does your faith come from? As far as I can tell, people only believe what they believe because at some point they are told it. A baby born on a deserted island (supposing he lives through adulthood) would have no concept of any established religion. He may invent a god or some higher power/being to explain weather and chance/luck and other things like that. So, besides what people have told you and what you've heard, why do you believe what you believe? I know some people say they've had "exeriences" and that is how they know. Let's go back to the baby on the deserted island. Take any experience that isn't influence by what you know, and apply it to the baby on the island. If the baby had that experience would he be thinking I've experience Jesus Christ? Or would he take it for what it was, simply an experience about this or that. I guess what I'm asking is, are these religious "experiences" that people have influenced by what they already know about religion? I know the psychological explanation behind it, and assuming that you don't, what is your opinion on this? If religion, assume we're still talking about Catholicism for the sake of simplicity, were wiped off the Earth, do you believe it would come back? If yes, why/how? If no, then what does that mean?
you ask some really interesting questions. I personally see originary EARTH religions as being very poetic. Very IMAGE based. After all we dont dream in words do we? of if so VERy rarely. We dream, and imagine in images. So pre-litereate people were incredibly poetical. They would make associations between natural beings, and son on. The Serpent would have name associations...to do with a sense of eternal life cause it sloughs off its skin. The way it moves. Its phallic appearance, and its habitat....etc. Same with birds, water, etc etc etc So someone born on a desert island with no 'holy books' full of words words, and more words, and their commands, would most likely have a different feel about reality. so if we look at our past, why is it that the word came to prominence and crushed all of that? Cause remember the Hebrew god, Yahweh demonized all images. he was a 'jealous God' and he wanted to subtitute the 'WORD'! i believe the written word started as a form of code for the machinations of newly formed civilizations. soon they start creating myths....and with the patriarchy they subvert the imagery based pre-patriarchl mythologies through the use of words. so for example, as IMAGE Serpent is benign, and its associations ARe its image. but when it is CALLED/written as "EVIL", then that begins to have an effect on the readers of the myth, which is the intention of the writers As Joseph Campbell pointed out though, DESPITE this overlaying demonization of images by the patriarchal usurpers, yet "Still, a deeper song can be heard" ('Occidental Mythology') So, does this mean we are fukced, cause we are submerged in the word now? No. Of course it will have had its effect, as we have been drilled in this way of looking at reality all the way through school and so on. But to begin to explore about this is a way of seeing through this semantic construct. And a medicine to really inspire this are the hallucinogens. The olde serpents~~~~~
From an early age, we are exposed to certain concepts of morality and such, mostly through our parents. As we grow up, we start weighing the value to us of pleasure/pain vs. learned social norms and begin to make our own path. In that process, we look for those things that re-inforce the path we've taken and have "faith" in them. In other words, we have faith in whatever supports our individual viewpoints.
