I am also interested in the church from a historical, cultural, and political perspective. I even consider most of their moral codes to be valid. My parents are Christian but not churchgoers.
I consider almost any religious view to be somewhat plausible. Science can explain much, but it does not explain existence or consciousness or what happens to our ego when we die. That said, I don't find blind faith to be particularly valid. If you have no reason to believe there is a leprechaun inside a box that will never be opened, then you should not either believe or disbelieve in it, only consider both as a possibility. Faith and reason can coexist, but both must yield to one another when necessary.
You have no way of knowing whether or not a stranger will treat you as a friend or an enemy. But you should have faith in humanity and not automatically treat them as an enemy. Even if experience has shown you that some people are untrustworthy.
By that same token, reason should kick in and tell you to be cautious. Life is a balance of the knowable and the unknowable.
I take the religious, the secular, and the agnostic seriously, so long as they maintain their ability to reason and do not take a militaristic or extremist stance on any issue. No matter what your opinions are, be they spiritual or not, you have no right to force others to accept your view. The only exceptions are the things which are obvious and can be proven using science, which falls under the category of reasonable morality, such as commonly held views that murder, theft, or rape are wrong.
Personally, I am a Deist; a believer in "God", but I have no holy book or church, my faith is my own opinion and thus equal to everyone else's, and my personal God is whatever the observable truth is. If for example your church believes that sacrificing virgins will bring better crops, I tend to think that goes against intuitive logic based upon observations of the real world. I'd even go as far as to say your religion should be outlawed, as it involves forcing your belief (and death, incidentally) upon the unwilling.
Generally speaking, I try to harness all the good points that religion can bring; faith in mankind, community, shared values, an optimistic vision of the future, and morality.
I try to leave out the bad, such as condemnation, hell, purgatory, declaring a "chosen people", burning heretics, jihads, inquisitions, crusades, crucifixions, animal sacrifice, genital mutilation, ritual suicide, murder in the name of God, institutionalized racism, and wars based upon which of a Prophet's descendants was the true heir to his legacy.
All in all, I attempt to take the middle road, and allow the truth itself to be my guide.
And in my spare time I role play as a brutal, godless dictator who exterminates people. How Machiavellian!
Re: Medieval 2 in the News
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