The First thing I would like to do with this post is to thank all of you who have left comments. I really appreciate it. It helps to know that people are actually reading what I write!
This being said I would like to respond to one of the comments written about the haunted house post. Michelle wrote "So as skeptical a person as you are, it’s pretty interesting that you were able to come to a point where you could accept Christianity." This is a very important subject to me, I feel I must address it.
Yes, I am a skeptical, and cynical person. I question everything (ask any of my ex-professors) and everyone, I am constantly looking for ulterior motives in people (although you wouldn’t know it from my happy-go-lucky disposition), and doubt much that others accept as fact. So how could a person such as myself find faith?
Everyone has faith in some things. I have faith that the chair I’m sitting in will hold me, I plop down on it without giving it a second thought. Should I? Isn’t it possible that it’ll break next time I sit down and send me sprawling? Sure, but I know it’s in good shape so I trust that it will hold me. Many times the problem isn’t in our ability to have faith, it’s in the fact that someone presents us with a rickety old chair held together with bubble gum and bailing wire and asks us to have enough faith to sit. In other words, it seems that Christianity, for some, is just too big a pill to swallow. I agree! Especially when looking at the brands being peddled by modern western society (I don’t see much love in their political agendas).
The dogma spewed by many well-meaning, but often times misguided people is sometimes more detrimental to the message of Jesus than helpful. I am not a Christian out of fear of Hell or hope for Heaven (although it is comforting to have my bases covered). In fact, true to my skeptical nature, I don’t really know for sure if there is a Heaven or Hell, as I have no personal experience. Neither have I experienced God "speaking" to me personally. It seems that most of the reasons given for being a Christian are pretty shallow and unexplored. I would hope that mine are not.
I have experienced these things to hold true. People act according to their belief system (the one they actually believe, not the one they give lip service to), there are many systems of belief in the world that most people don’t even realize they're indoctrinated in(i.e. capitalism, consumerism, the idea of justice, hedonism), and most people never even question the ideology that they were born into. Considering that the world is shaped by the actions of people, and those actions are directed by their beliefs, isn’t it important to discover truth? This is what the greatest of men have sought.
The question is who has found it? Alexander the Great certainly found the true way to build an empire, but "should" we conquer and kill to acquire power. His empire (as all have or eventually will) fell. Donald Trump knows money, just as Einstein and Newton knew science. But "should" life be about hoarding possessions, and where do you think pure science would lead if not tempered by morality.
Three men come to mind that took steps beyond the typical views of the world and sought higher truths. They changed the world by changing peoples minds. Interestingly they all shared the same fate. The three of whom I speak are those that I portrayed in one of my drawings. Dr. Martin Luther King, Gandhi, and Jesus (actually the shroud of Turin in the picture). They each sacrificed their lives for the greater good of mankind. King was instrumental in bringing about civil rights, not by changing laws, but by changing minds. Gandhi freed the country of India without raising a single weapon, he instead freed the minds of his countrymen. Jesus set the example that the other two men followed. His teachings, when truly grasped, lead to freedom, his example leads to true power. The "kingdom" Jesus brought about on this earth consists of 33% of the worlds population (the population of China is only 20%, and the U.S. is a minuscule 5%) . He forged this kingdom without lifting a sword. His influence has fed more hungry, and healed more sick than any other person in history, yet this is just the tip of the iceberg when speaking of his accomplishments.
I am a reasonably well read man, but I have never come across anyone that, when examined with the critical eye of history, comes close to garnishing the respect deserved by Jesus. Even before getting into the supernatural quandaries that most people immediately jump in when discussing him.
So what about the miracles, what about God, what about Heaven? I told you before I don’t know, but I have hope that the man I’ve found to hold the truth about so much I can examine, also spoke the truth about those things I can’t.
Even without that assurance I will follow Jesus.
Tanner Noguess
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