A Confession of Faith

November-04-2012

 

 

0=0, The equation of Faith

 

I had a discussion the other day with a dear but unbelieving friend about what faith is. Is it following blindly a set of ideas? Is it what the New Atheists say, holding to an irrational belief in the teeth of evidence? What does faith mean, anyway? I was reminded of a passage from Tolstoy's Confession, which influenced me quite a bit over the last few years. It defines faith as a sort of commitment to life; whether that life is present or eternal, there is the rub. Tolstoy holds that faith, belief in the value of life, starts by recognizing this formula, 0=0, ephemeral life equals nothing. Once that is honestly acknowledged, faith is whatever remains. It is what we value then. I will share the whole passage, but first, a brief discussion of the definition of faith.

 

First, I agree with my unbelieving friend that faith has several meanings, and that they tend to bleed into one another. This causes a great deal of equivocation. The result is distancing, a horrible sort of mental incompatibility where someone will believe in one thing, and fail to hear what those with other beliefs are saying. They may be close enough to hear one another's words clearly, but, in the image of the Qur'an, they resemble two people standing apart, at a great distance, shouting to be heard. So great is the chasm, the effort to communicate so arduous, that both give up even trying to comprehend. As Heraclitus put it, they know "neither how to listen, nor how to speak." (DK 19)

 

"Those without understanding when they hear are like deaf men; of them does the saying bear witness that `they are absent when present.'" (Heraclitus, DK 34)

 

Soon, each side begins to see the other as willfully ignorant. And again, there is the rub. The Qur'an teaches that will is of the essence of faith. No matter what, it is always a conscious decision to believe, or not to believe. That is why, ultimately, we are responsible to God for what we believe. There is a huge gap between us and Him because we have willed it to be so. Otherwise, God is "closer than their life's vein." Here is how Tolstoy understood his journey from distance to proximity, from belief in this life to belief in One beyond:

 

"If it had been thy Lord's will, they would all have believed,- all who are on earth! wilt thou then compel mankind, against their will, to believe! No soul can believe, except by the will of God, and He will place doubt (or obscurity) on those who will not understand." (Qur'an 10:99-100)

 

From Tolstoy’s Confession

 

"Rational knowledge led me to the conclusion that life is meaningless; my life came to a halt, and I wanted to do away with myself. As I looked around at people, I saw that they were living, and I was convinced that they knew the meaning of life. Then I turned and looked at myself; as long as I knew the meaning of life, I lived. As it was with others, so it was with me: faith provided me with the meaning of life and the possibility of living."

 

"Upon a further examination of the people in other countries, of my contemporaries, and of those who have passed away, I saw the same thing. Wherever there is life, there is faith; since the origin of mankind faith has made it possible for us to live, and the main characteristics of faith are everywhere and always the same."

 

"No matter what answers a given faith might provide for us, every answer of faith gives infinite meaning to the finite existence of man, meaning that is not destroyed by suffering, deprivation, and death. Therefore, the meaning of life and the possibility of living may be found in faith alone. I realized that the essential significance of faith lies not only in the `manifestation of things unseen' and so on, or in revelation (this is simply a description of one of the signs of faith); nor is it simply the relation between man and God (faith must first be determined and then God, not the other way around), or agreeing with what one has been told, even though this is what it is most often understood to be."

 

"Faith is the knowledge of the meaning of human life, whereby the individual does not destroy himself but lives. Faith is the force of life. If a man lives, then he must have faith in something. If he did not believe that he had something he must live for, then he would not live. If he fails to see and understand the illusory nature of the finite, then he believes in the finite; if he understands the illusory nature of the finite, then he must believe in the infinite. Without faith it is impossible to live."

 

"I looked back on the course of my internal life and I was horrified. It was now clear to me that in order for a man to live, he must either fail to see the infinite or he must have an explanation of the meaning of life by which the finite and the infinite would be equated. I had such an explanation, but I did not need it as long as I believed in the finite, and I began to use reason to test it out. And in the light of reason every bit of my former explanation crumbled into dust. But the time came when I no longer believed in the finite. Then, using the foundations of reason, I began to draw on what I knew to put together an explanation that would give life meaning; but nothing came of it. Along with the finest minds that mankind has produced, I came up with 0=0, and I was utterly amazed at coming to such a resolution and discovering that there could be no other." (Tolstoy, Confession, pp. 61-62)

p13hum

Proofs of Deity, Humour

I am preparing a small book on the proofs of God's existence. For the next several weeks I will be posting often on the Badi' blog selections from my notes, sometimes preliminary essays to be included in the book. If you are overwhelmed, just email me and I will pull you off the Badi' mailing list. As a former atheist, this topic is more fascinating for me than for some.

 Long ago I set up a "system" with slots to take in every note and quote that I collect; the first of these categories is humour, which includes not only jokes and cartoons, but also proverbs, anecdotes, fables, and other nonsense. Here is what I collected for the proofs of deity.

 

Going through the labyrinthine passages of a university library many years ago, I stumbled upon an excellent book called "Oriental Humour." It featured some of the startling and often profound jokes and koans from Japan, Korea and China. One is so famous that it has entered Western culture, too. We know of it as a Zen koan, but according to this book, it is also a Korean proverb,

"One hand finds it hard to clap." (Korean Proverb)

One meaning of this proverb is that a given spiritual experience is not enough, we need social feedback; we need religious experience. In turn, society needs spiritual experience as well. However much an individual may feel affected or transformed by a given state of consciousness, the reality of it only lives on when others share in it, or at least when they benefit from the changes it had on us. I think this may be why Jesus, when he declared, "The Kingdom of God is within," used a word that also can mean, "The Kingdom of God is among (you)."

 Here is another story from Oriental Humour,

 "A man called at his landlord's and said, `I didn't know at all that you were ill. When I came back home today, my wife said that you had ophthalmia. How do you feel now?' The landlord appeared from within the dark doorway, squinting. He replied, `You're welcome, I feel better since yesterday.' Looking at him, the man said. `I see that you are not only suffering from ophthalmia but there is something wrong with your eyes, too.'" (Blyth, OH 549)

 

 The authors of the book commented: "The great fall of man is that we use words that are meaningless, words like `God,' `infinity,' `the absolute,' `perfection,' and `opthalmia.'" A fable from Aesop (AE180), illustrates another divine lesson. It is that, as God puts it in the Bible, "my ways are not thy ways..." The story is called, The Ass Carrying Salt,

 "An ass loaded with salt was crossing a river. He slipped and fell into the water and as the salt melted, he got up with a lighter burden. He was pleased at this and another time when he was loaded with sponges. He came to a river. He thought that if he fell in again he would come off lighter, and so he slipped on purpose. As the sponges filled with water it turned out that he couldn't get up and was drowned."

 

 

 The fate of this ass shows the dangers of drawing spiritual conclusions from material evidence, and vice versa. Great is the incompatibility between these ways of thinking in our own lives. We can only judge of a religious experience by whether we walk away a better person, or have a lighter conscience. If we get stuck and drown, we know to avoid such things in future. Difficult as this is, how much harder it is to judge fairly the spiritual lives of others. Still, if large numbers of people live many generations in a given faith, we know that its beliefs cannot be wholly invalid. On the other hand, if a certain belief drowns its adherents in hatred and prejudice, it will not last long anyway. In that case it is not unreasonable to reject it and to consider its adherents as, well, asses.

 The skeptic generalizes on the evidence of bad experiences by some and dismisses the entire enterprise of faith A Priori. For them, belief is a quagmire, a failure and a sorry waste of time. H.L. Mencken's famous quip sums up this rush to judgment,

 "For centuries, theologians have been explaining the unknowable in terms of the-not-worth-knowing."

 Others are not so hasty. Religion, after all, is a cultural universal. No society in history is known to have survived long without some sort of ritual, prayer, belief in God or gods, or other expressions of faith. As the proverb goes, "Big ship need deep water." Mind and consciousness need to take in the infinite, if only to recognize our helplessness before it. Having done so, we feel the better for it. Another proverb says,

 "Stand far, see better."

 

 

 Even the most skeptical can benefit from stopping and entering into communion with the eternal, in whatever way works for them. We might take, for example, a walk in natural surroundings. Trees and grass have been around for hundreds of millions of years, after all, so every natural place is like a very ancient cathedral. Or we might enter a place of worship and there converse with God, or, if we prefer, with our higher, more distant and detached self. To stand in a place designed to reflect the aspect of infinity is always to be illumined, and later to see everyday problems in a different perspective. Of course, we can often gain spiritual maturity just from our daily service to others.

"On the morning I began my new job was an excavation company I found myself standing knee-deep in mud, holding a shovel. `You know, Jerry,' I remarked to the boss, `I signed on with this outfit to learn how to operate heavy equipment.' `Don't worry,' he said with a grin, `by the end of the day that shovel will be heavy enough.'"

 

Today's Badi' Blog Essay; Muslim proof of deity (jetbadi.aligu@blogger.com)

Today's Badi' Blog Essay

Today's Badi' Blog Essay

Snapshot of the item below:

Here are the most recent posts on the Badi’ Blog. First, a TED talk about the usefulness of Esperanto in learning languages:

1. Learn Esperanto first: Tim Morley at TEDxGranta

Then, the poster advertising my talk about the proofs of deity, which I gave on my birthday:

2. Is there a God, or what?

Next, an interesting video with the thesis that our posture has long lasting effects in old age. Personally, I think diet has a much greater effect.

3. Posture: Stand up straight, or not...

My interest in bicycles led to the discovery of this lyrical video:

4. Poem on Bikes: "If I Ride"

My monthly discussion meeting in Wainfleet library. Next month we will be talking about proofs of deity:

5. Discussion on Humankind in Wainfleet, Ontario

A local physician/activist showed this movie, to great effect. Silvie and I are now working on becoming vegans, as are many others in Dunnville. Here is the trailer to the movie that prompted all this.

6. Forks Over Knives - Official Trailer

The local paper reported on the showing, here:

http://www.dunnvillechronicle.com/2012/09/24/film-says-fork-over-your-knives

The latest addition to the Badi' Blog is here:

http://badiblog.blogspot.ca/2012/10/a-muslim-proofs-of-deity.html

Here is the same text:

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

A Muslim's Proofs of Deity

I was returning a book to McMaster University's library when I ran into Aiya at the Muslim Student Association booth, who offered to answer any question on Islam, "no matter how controversial." I was impressed with this young proponent of his Faith, so I asked him about Muslim proofs of deity, the subject of a talk I was preparing. He emailed me the following, which I share here with his permission.

So in terms of proving the existence of God in Islam we use two things: the Quran and the life and teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). These are the two things that show us that there is a God and that he is communicating with humankind. The Quran very rarely will address the existence of God because it is already assumed that God exists since it is the speech of God. Imagine, for instance, having a conversation with someone - they wouldn't need to tell you that they exist because that conversation entails that they exist.

You might now ask, well how do we know that the Quran is the speech of God?

The answer to that is its miraculous nature: its inimitable language, it's historical, scientific, and linguistic miracles. For a better idea on the miraculous nature of the Quran please watch the following video by a renowned Muslim scholar, Yasir Qadhi. He starts at 4:10 and continues on to talk about how the Quran is miraculous.

HQ: Miracle of the Quran - Yasir Qadhi [Part 1/5] - Greatest Miracle Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)

The second way we prove the existence of God is by reflecting on the life and teachings of the messenger. God sent us many messengers to remind us of our duty to worship Him and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was the last and final messenger.

How do we know that he was a true messenger of God? We can easily deduce this with the following options: either he was a liar, he was deluded, or he was a true messenger.

Now he couldn't have been a liar because he was known as the honest and trustworthy of his people even before he became a Messenger (at age 40). People would keep their gold and precious belongings with him whenever they went on a journey. And he would always return it to them, thus he was a very honest person.

It could also be argued that he wanted to be a messenger for money and power. But if you look at his life you can see that this was not the case. When he first started calling people to Islam the tribe leaders tried to persuade him to stop. So they offered him riches, women, power but his reply was

“By God! If they were to place the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left hand in order to abandon this mission, I would not do so until it has been well established or I would perish in my attempt to do so.”

This, along with many other examples, proves that he was not in it for worldly desires.

Then was he deluded? Well, he was not known to be insane his whole life, but rather was known as the man with the best character. It is extremely rare to develop a psychological disease when you are 40 without showing any signs during upbringing.

Additionally, the insane have difficulty having a conversation one on one let alone be the leader of a political, social, cultural, and religious revolution that changed the face of human history. Another point is that the Quran is very eloquent and consistent so it is impossible for such a coherent message with a clear system of guidance and set of laws for all aspects of life to be produced by someone who is not mentally stable. You can watch the following video by another Muslim scholar, AbdulRaheem Green to get a better idea:

Was Muhammad (pbuh) really a prophet? - A.R. Green

So this is basically the Islamic way of proving the existence of God - His Message (the Quran) and His Messenger (Muhammad). If you have any other questions feel free to contact me and I would be more than happy to help!

Thanks for your interest!

Aiya Al-Saudi

Dawah Director

McMaster Muslim Students Association

::

Google Drive: create, share, and keep all your stuff in one place.

A Muslim's Proofs of Deity

October-17-12

9:21 AM

I was returning a book to McMaster University's library when I ran into A--- at the Muslim Student Association booth, who offered to answer any question on Islam, "no matter how controversial." I was impressed with this young proponent of his Faith. I asked for an essay about Muslim proofs of deity, the subject of a talk I was preparing. A colleague of his emailed me the following, which I share here with permission.

So in terms of proving the existence of God in Islam we use two things: the Quran and the life and teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). These are the two things that show us that there is a God and that he is communicating with humankind. The Quran very rarely will address the existence of God because it is already assumed that God exists since it is the speech of God. Imagine, for instance, having a conversation with someone - they wouldn't need to tell you that they exist because that conversation entails that they exist.

You might now ask, well how do we know that the Quran is the speech of God?

The answer to that is its miraculous nature: its inimitable language, it's historical, scientific, and linguistic miracles. For a better idea on the miraculous nature of the Quran please watch the following video by a renowned Muslim scholar, Yasir Qadhi. He starts at 4:10 and continues on to talk about how the Quran is miraculous.

HQ: Miracle of the Quran - Yasir Qadhi [Part 1/5] - Greatest Miracle Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)

The second way we prove the existence of God is by reflecting on the life and teachings of the messenger. God sent us many messengers to remind us of our duty to worship Him and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was the last and final messenger.

How do we know that he was a true messenger of God? We can easily deduce this with the following options: either he was a liar, he was deluded, or he was a true messenger.

Now he couldn't have been a liar because he was known as the honest and trustworthy of his people even before he became a Messenger (at age 40). People would keep their gold and precious belongings with him whenever they went on a journey. And he would always return it to them, thus he was a very honest person.

It could also be argued that he wanted to be a messenger for money and power. But if you look at his life you can see that this was not the case. When he first started calling people to Islam the tribe leaders tried to persuade him to stop. So they offered him riches, women, power but his reply was

“By God! If they were to place the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left hand in order to abandon this mission, I would not do so until it has been well established or I would perish in my attempt to do so.” 

This, along with many other examples, proves that he was not in it for worldly desires.

Then was he deluded? Well, he was not known to be insane his whole life, but rather was known as the man with the best character. It is extremely rare to develop a psychological disease when you are 40 without showing any signs during upbringing.

Additionally, the insane have difficulty having a conversation one on one let alone be the leader of a political, social, cultural, and religious revolution that changed the face of human history. Another point is that the Quran is very eloquent and consistent so it is impossible for such a coherent message with a clear system of guidance and set of laws for all aspects of life to be produced by someone who is not mentally stable. You can watch the following video by another Muslim scholar, AbdulRaheem Green to get a better idea:

Was Muhammad (pbuh) really a prophet? - A.R. Green

So this is basically the Islamic way of proving the existence of God - His Message (the Quran) and His Messenger (Muhammad). If you have any other questions feel free to contact me and I would be more than happy to help!

Thanks for your interest! 

A---

--- Muslim Students Association

Learn Esperanto first: Tim Morley at TEDxGranta

Is there a God, or what?

 

Is There A God, or What?

 

Speaker: John Taylor

 

8 PM

WEDNESDAY, October 10, 2012

 

 

SPONSORED BY THE Baha'is of Haldimand

Discussion Series on the Baha'i Principles

GARFIELD DISHER ROOM,

DUNNVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY

poster:

 

 

 

Posture: Stand up straight, or not...

Poem on Bikes: "If I Ride"

Discussion on Humankind in Wainfleet, Ontario

This Month's Philosopher's Café will be on Thursday, October 11, at 6:30 p.m. in the Wainfleet Library’s meeting room.

 

This month’s topic is:

 

“Mankind is One”

 

 

What is the PhIlosopher’s Café?

 

A second Thursday of the month destination

for provocative, insightful discussion

around ideas and issues that matter.

 

 

. Everyone welcome. Drop in for a lively

discussion.

 

. There is no fee to participate.

 

. No formal philosophy training required;

real life experience desired.

 

Wainfleet Township Public Library

31909 Park Street P.O. Box 118

Wainfleet, ON LOS 1VO

 

905-899-1277

 

www.wainfleetLiibrary.caI

Forks Over Knives - Official Trailer

Month of Will, Coming up

Here is the upcoming Badi’ Month, as an experiment for this neglected blog, and perhaps a convenience for some. The whole calendar can be downloaded from the site for White Mountain publishing at: http://www.wmpub.ca/09-bahai.htm and, <http://www.wmpub.ca/09-bcal.htm>

September Philosopher's Cafe

This month’s topic for the Wainfleet Philosopher's Cafe:

 

“Conscience & the Search for Truth”

 

Thursday, September 13

 

6:30 p.m. in the Library’s meeting room

 

 

 

Flyer for Commemoration in Hamilton

Of Abdu’l-Baha’s visit to Canada one hundred years ago.

 

Pilots Need Love Too

My daughter Silvie’s latest artwork.

August 07, 2012

Bicycles (jetbadi.aligu@blogger.com)

Today's Badi' Blog Essay

Here is the latest addition to the Badi' Blog. You can find the same text on the web at:

http://badiblog.blogspot.ca/2012/08/bicycle-diaries.html

 August 06, 2012

Bicycle Diaries

I have been thinking of little this spring and summer other than bicycles. As I was visiting a bicycle store in Westdale, I came upon a book store which had a book called "Bicycle," (http://www.amazon.com/Bicycle-History-David-V-Herlihy/dp/0300104189) a history of the invention that I regard as one of the greatest of our age. I immediately bought and devoured it.

I did not realize that the idea of paved roads and automobiles and even airplanes grew out of the first bicycle craze in the 1890's. That is, they grew out of bicycles, not the other way around. Plus, the velocipede, a running aid more than a means of transport, was around for fifty years before anybody, with only a couple of exceptions, ever thought of putting pedals on them. Both started in France, and their word for bike, "velo," reflects velocipede rather than the more recent bicycle, also originally a French word. There will be bicycles, I would be willing to bet, long after the last automobile has been dumped in a metal recycling deposit. There is much in this history of the bicycle that I found fascinating and surprising.

I just read another book called "Bicycle Diaries," by David Byrne, a musician in a group called Talking Heads (see: http://www.davidbyrne.com/art/books/bicycle_diaries/). When the group goes on tour, he packs a foldable bicycle as a second suitcase and, when he arrives, he rides the bike around the city in which the gig takes place. In this way, he has not only gone to most of the world's major cities, thanks to the bicycle he has actually seen and toured them first hand.

Bicycle Diaries is the product of Byrne's meditations about what he saw. Written around 2005, the start of this most recent bike boom, Byrne's book reports on what has only recently crept up on me as a new thing, that we are in what could be called the "post global warming bicycle boom." It must be at least the fifth bicycle boom during the past two centuries. This boom was just getting underway when Byrne wrote his Diaries. Only now is this boom noticeable around here.

One of the exceptions to the boom, he finds, is Buenos Aires. It simply does not have biking as part of its otherwise rich culture. During his week long visit he only encounters one or two natives on bicycles. His use of a bike to tour the town with is so unusual an event that his adventure is written up as a feature article in the local newspaper.

European cities, on the other hand, have bikes engrained in their culture, but not in the way we do here. There, you commute and shop with a bike, and install carriers on front and rear. He remarks that they not only dress in ordinary street clothes when they ride, they actually look elegant. In North America, biking is more a sport and recreational activity. For a long time, bikes sold here did not accommodate mounts on which carriers can be placed -- including one bike that I recently bought. That, however, is starting to change.

As I write, I sit by our bay window over Lock Street here in Dunnville and look out at the street. Since spring arrived, from early morning to late in the evening, bicyclists ride by every few minutes. Not as often as the roaring cars, but surprisingly often. When we travelled to Quebec City in May, and I found myself taking photographs of bicyclists far more than the usual tourist attractions. I will share the pictures with you soon enough.

I told my elderly neighbour about my new interest in bicycles, and she reminisced about the days in the Nineteen Eighties when she owned a flower shop in town. Her late husband never had a license or owned a car, but you do not need to in this part of town, since all the conveniences are within easy walking distance. She became known to locals as "the lady on the bicycle." It was such a rare thing to ride a bike back then that this vague descriptive sufficed. Now you would have to say something like, "You know, the lady on the green [product placement expunged] beach cruiser."

::

Google Drive: create, share, and keep all your stuff in one place.

Bicycle Diaries

 

I have been thinking of little this spring and summer other than bicycles. As I was visiting a bicycle store in Westdale, I came upon a book store which had a book called "Bicycle," (http://www.amazon.com/Bicycle-History-David-V-Herlihy/dp/0300104189) a history of the invention that I regard as one of the greatest of our age. I immediately bought and devoured it.

 

 

 

I did not realize that the idea of paved roads and automobiles and even airplanes grew out of the first bicycle craze in the 1890's. That is, they grew out of bicycles, not the other way around. Plus, the velocipede, a running aid more than a means of transport, was around for fifty years before anybody, with only a couple of exceptions, ever thought of putting pedals on them. Both started in France, and their word for bike, "velo," reflects velocipede rather than the more recent bicycle, also originally a French word. There will be bicycles, I would be willing to bet, long after the last automobile has been dumped in a metal recycling deposit. There is much in this history of the bicycle that I found fascinating and surprising.

 

I just read another book called "Bicycle Diaries," by David Byrne, a musician in a group called Talking Heads (see: http://www.davidbyrne.com/art/books/bicycle_diaries/). When the group goes on tour, he packs a foldable bicycle as a second suitcase and, when he arrives, he rides the bike around the city in which the gig takes place. In this way, he has not only gone to most of the world's major cities, thanks to the bicycle he has actually seen and toured them first hand.

 

 

 

Bicycle Diaries is the product of Byrne's meditations about what he saw. Written around 2005, the start of this most recent bike boom, Byrne's book reports on what has only recently crept up on me as a new thing, that we are in what could be called the "post global warming bicycle boom." It must be at least the fifth bicycle boom during the past two centuries. This boom was just getting underway when Byrne wrote his Diaries. Only now is this boom noticeable around here.

 

One of the exceptions to the boom, he finds, is Buenos Aires. It simply does not have biking as part of its otherwise rich culture. During his week long visit he only encounters one or two natives on bicycles. His use of a bike to tour the town with is so unusual an event that his adventure is written up as a feature article in the local newspaper.

 

European cities, on the other hand, have bikes engrained in their culture, but not in the way we do here. There, you commute and shop with a bike, and install carriers on front and rear. He remarks that they not only dress in ordinary street clothes when they ride, they actually look elegant. In North America, biking is more a sport and recreational activity. For a long time, bikes sold here did not accommodate mounts on which carriers can be placed -- including one bike that I recently bought. That, however, is starting to change.

 

 

 

As I write, I sit by our bay window over Lock Street here in Dunnville and look out at the street. Since spring arrived, from early morning to late in the evening, bicyclists ride by every few minutes. Not as often as the roaring cars, but surprisingly often. When we travelled to Quebec City in May, and I found myself taking photographs of bicyclists far more than the usual tourist attractions. I will share the pictures with you soon enough.

 

I told my elderly neighbour about my new interest in bicycles, and she reminisced about the days in the Nineteen Eighties when she owned a flower shop in town. Her late husband never had a license or owned a car, but you do not need to in this part of town, since all the conveniences are within easy walking distance. She became known to locals as "the lady on the bicycle." It was such a rare thing to ride a bike back then that this vague descriptive sufficed. Now you would have to say something like, "You know, the lady on the green [product placement expunged] beach cruiser."