Discovering My Faithless Religion

Philosophies are to be based on facts. If the facts are wrong then your philosophy is untrue.


phi·los·o·phy (f(image placeholder)-l(image placeholder)s(image placeholder)(image placeholder)-f(image placeholder))n. pl. phi·los·o·phies

1. Love and pursuit of wisdom by intellectual means and moral self-discipline.


2. Investigation of the nature, causes, or principles of reality, knowledge, or values, based on logical reasoning rather than empirical methods.


3. A system of thought based on or involving such inquiry: the philosophy of Hume.


4. The critical analysis of fundamental assumptions or beliefs.


5. The disciplines presented in university curriculums of science and the liberal arts, except medicine, law, and theology.


6. The discipline comprising logic, ethics, aesthetics, metaphysics, and epistemology.


7. A set of ideas or beliefs relating to a particular field or activity; an underlying theory: an original philosophy of advertising.


8. A system of values by which one lives: has an unusual philosophy of life.

These definitions provided by dictionary.com.

These are all very good definitions, and all apply to my goals, but I want to go one step further. In my mind I define philosophy such as this;
Philosophy: A faithless religion.

I believe (I am more than willing to be corrected in this) that if any religious belief were to remove everything from their religion that involves faith, you would be left with the philosophy that was its basis.
I believe that religions are formed when we as humans meet a situation that our philosophy does not explain and rather than accept that we can not explain it, we attempt to bridge the gap with faith.

Faith has been the killing factor for me when I think about religion. I go back and re-read some of the things I have here and I realize that I really have no faith. I have beliefs that attempt to reconcile the things I know to be true with the things I can not explain, but to say I have true faith in them would be a lie, and I am tired of lying.

faith Pronunciation Key (f(image placeholder)th)n.

1. Confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing.


2. Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence. See Synonyms at belief. See Synonyms at trust.


3. Loyalty to a person or thing; allegiance: keeping faith with one's supporters.


4. often Faith Christianity. The theological virtue defined as secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God's will.


5. The body of dogma of a religion: the Muslim faith.


6. A set of principles or beliefs.

I think it is only fair to say that I am closer to the concept of believing in “God” than I am in believing “the word of God.” The Bible was written by man and therefore is corruptible. To blindly think that mankind is not capable of corrupting the concept of an almighty to fit its own purpose is irresponsible at best.

I want with all my being to be respectful to the faiths of others in this post. I want you to understand that I respect your faith in your faith.

I have been told of or have read about the workings of God. I have been witnessed to and testified too but I have never had a definitive example set down to me that these actions could only be done by “god” and only “god”.

Nor have I seen any evidence that any other explanation is more correct. One thing I can come to terms with is that I don't know everything. That much is evident.

Believe it or not though this post is not to prove or disprove God though. If you are here for some Christian bashing then I am afraid that I am going to disappoint you. This post will however take a brief look at the philosophy of religions including Christianity. I think what I am trying to do is find the common ground that they share. I believe all these opinions come from somewhere.

Most accepted religions have a simple “carrot and the stick” system in place. They don't all agree with the details, but there is enough faith that they are in fact there that people have been dieing for their beliefs. I think to remove faith from something I have to remove reward. I have to say there is no Heaven, therefore there is no Hell. (No Reward equals No punishment)

Most faithfully accept the presence of a divine caretaker, who looks over us and for a variety of reasons wants us to live out our lives in their service.

There are some who have faith that life as we know it is capable for our creation. (aliens)
We human beings have a variety of faiths. My attempt here is to discover the philosophies behind them.
If we take away faith we have only the rules are left to guide us. We are left with the idea that we should do the right thing because it is the right thing and for no other reason. We are left with facts to base our lives on and not supposition.

It may surprise some to know that the Egyptians as well as the Hittites had laws which are very similar to the Ten Commandments, which Moses is said to have brought down from the mountain. We know that they had these laws in place LONG before Moses had his talk with God. We know what the Ten Commandments are the accepted base of the laws and legal system of the world. They are for all intents and purposes the rules by which we live. Islam, Hebrew, and Christians all accept them as the basis of acceptable behavior. (Islam recognizes them but does not have them quoted in the Qur’an) Only after faith is added do we start killing.

I have a few quick notes before I go for the day, First there is more than one version of the ten commandments and the accepted version taught in America is NOT the correct translation from the original Hebrew text. Next, these ideas of “right and wrong” come from somewhere. They started somewhere. One person or one group of people put them or something very similar in writing. Why? I hope that “IF” we can ever figure that out we will begin to find a philosophy worth having faith in.

Well it’s a small start but it’s a start. I will be back later I have some thinking to do.