Intelligence vs Faith

Faith is…something that just when I think I have a grasp on it, it slips away like a fish.  Yet, I have come to see the necessity of it as I have stood back and watched several people, most of them close friends of mine lean so heavily on "logic" and "intelligence" for understanding, that I think I am beginning to understand how it works a bit better.  Hopefully I can explain this so it actually makes sense.

I recently saw a clip of a man who is an atheist having a "dialogue" (I use scare quotes here because this man typically likes to invite people of faith on to his program so he can try and rip them apart on national television and play king of the hill) with an "intelligent Christian", a label he so "graciously" gave to the man he was talking to.  As I watched this clip, I found myself getting very upset that the man who was an atheist was frankly being a jerk and trying to make his guest look like and idiot.  He kept trying to sway the argument with his "logic".  Now, don't get me wrong, logic is a good thing most of the time.  Logic, if it is true logic, can override ignorance and so-called-intelligence at times, and blaze a wonderful trail to faith, but the problem with logic, it that it is very subjective.  As such, one of the things that can take logic on to the point of ignorance, hatred, and bullying, is when it is coupled with pride.  This is something that happens too quickly and easily that we are all guilty of it, most likely on a daily basis.  

I had a friend on Facebook who posted a disparaging comment a while back about people who were religious flooding Facebook with their beliefs about Easter.  I was really affected by her comment and made the decision to unfriend her.  I did not do this because I do not think she has a right to her opinions, or as any sort of "punishment" to her, I did this because she does have a right to her opinions, but her comment was made to be mean on purpose, and showed a lack of respect towards her friends that are religious (logic would tell me here that if she didn't have more than one friend, me, who was religious, she wouldn't see any posts about Easter), and I do not want to see that kind of negative energy on my news feed.  It was as if she was a dog nipping at you because you are in their personal space; a territorial and defensive response.  Instead of respectfully sharing her personal beliefs, she took a bite.  There was such a big part of me that wanted to write something snarky back, just to "out-whit" her, but then I'm the one doing the biting.

As I thought about this friend of mine, along with other friends I have who may not be atheist, but are certainly not in favor of organized religion, along with the man in the video clip, I pondered about why they so adamantly argue against religion.  It made me wonder if they have ever had a true experience of faith or if they have only gone off of intellect alone. Or, if they had had an experience with faith, had they had forgotten about it?
For me, my personal experiences with faith are what help me to understand other religions and faith. Those experiences are the reason I stand up for, and would fight for religious rights, not just for myself, but for anyone of any religion…"let them worship how, where, or what they may"(Articles of Faith 1:11) and that includes my friends and that man. 

This got me thinking about why faith elicits that kind of reaction from me.   

True faith, leads one to action, in a direction they would not normally go, but in a direction they believe will enhance their life and make them a better person.  It leads them in a direction that they believe to be right.  The small catch, is that faith only "works" for things that are true.  For example, I can have all the "faith" in the world that eating a dozen donuts a day will help me loose weight, but because it is not true, it will not happen.  So, when I have faith in something, if it proves unfruitful, it is not really faith.  It is merely misguided hope.  That is why we are always told in the scriptures to have faith in Christ, because He is a sure foundation, and if our faith is rooted in Him, we will not fall.  He is the one thing, or person, that all true faith can grow from and produce miracles.
Now, misguided intellect or logic would say there are many people throughout history who have had faith in Christ and did terrible things in his name.  My argument is that they did not have faith.  They had a massive dose of pride.  Pride, mixed with manipulation that fed their own egos.
"By their fruits ye shall know them" (Matt 7:20), and that is why I say, anyone with true faith in Christ, cannot be lead astray and can and will produce miracles.  Logic and intellect cannot produce miracles; they are limited.  Understanding coupled with faith can produce miracles, and what follows afterward is wisdom and knowledge.
Like I said, this is not a comprehensive understanding of faith, it is a small dip in the ocean that is faith. I do have faith that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior.  I know he lives, and that he gave his life so that I could make mistakes and come back from them and be a little wiser.  I know that God is our Heavenly Father, and that faith in Him and His Son Jesus Christ, will produce miracles in our lives.  And I know these things, not because my intellect has come to this conclusion after visiting all the "facts," but because I have had faith in Them, and They have sealed in my heart and in my mind this knowledge through the Holy Ghost.

Lots of Upheaval

Sorry, again, that it has been so long since my last post.  I moved and got a job all at the same time in April, and life has been chaotic ever since.
I started working as a substitute teacher, which was great, and horrifying at the same time.  I have developed a rather large soap box about our public education system after that job, but I will not be sharing it any time soon, at least not here anyway.  But of course that ended in May with the end of the school year, and the search for another job still goes on.
There have been other opportunities for jobs, not in Logan, that have come up.  There has been talk of other living arrangement opportunities as well, also not in Logan.  There has been many days spent in the temple trying to figure these things out, as well as a timely calling to be an ordinance worker in the Logan Temple which I start this Saturday evening.  I am really excited about this!!!
Oh! and I got a car!  My Mom, came to visit a few weeks ago, and she ended up buying a new car while visiting so she gave me her old one.  I am so incredibly blessed!!

                                          My Mom's first selfie on her new iPad.

Though I have not published any new posts in a while, I have had one that I have been editing this whole time, and I think I am finally ready to publish it.
I have been pondering a lot lately about our opinions and how "free" we are to share them now with social media and the internet, and so I have been trying to be very conscious of what I post.  I have no wish to offend anyone…though I do also believe that if you want to be offended, you will find a way to make that happen.  So, I post these thoughts, not as a claim that my thoughts are the end-all-be-all of truth that exists in the universe, but rather as an option to think about and see if it fits for you.
In short, my plea to all of us out there, is to please opinion responsibly.