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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: The Philosopher who wrote (77997)	10/21/2003 3:16:13 PM
From: Rambi	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

you're assuming that no person of faith has received feedback that supports their belief. Goodness, no, I am not assuming that at all. I wouldn't dare to. Many, many people are absolutely convinced of that feedback. I do think that it is a LOT more anecdotal and less verifiable than when you see me take a step and not disappear into the Black Hole, though. I went through a rough period in my youth when I turned rather dramatically to religion. I got all kinds of answers, saw all sorts of feedback! But I doubt that it had much fact in it, more wish fulfillment, akin to the reading of entrails. Recently I was at a funeral where the father of a woman said that he and his wife were walking in despair and saw a butterfly, and since their daughter loved butterflies and had said she would send a sign, they were convinced this was it. We all wept. Still, I think it was just a butterfly. What I wept for, what the miracle was for me is the way human beings recover, find hope in the most painful moments, can see a rainbow and be, as CS Lewis wrote, surprised by joy. People try here to avoid the anecdotal and subjective, but in religion that is pretty much the wall you wind up against finally.