Theism. Atheism.

My philosophy of religion course is very interesting. However this morning, sitting in class, I realized that I am not a fan of the philosophy aspect of religion. It is wholly and 100% necessary to have this field of study (and for apologetics I presume), and it is a very interesting course, but I just don't see the appeal in sitting and reasoning out religious ideas. If I had the brilliant mind of my younger brother Gabriel, maybe philosophy would be more interesting. Or maybe I'm just not used to thinking of things in the particular way that philosophers do. I guess it just dawned on me in class that, while all these people are asking for proof in order to move from the default (which in the philosophy of religion would be agnosticism) to either positive atheism or theism and where the burden of proof falls; all I need to do is look as a gorgeous sky, or see children learning/ playing, or study a flower to know that God is real. It is the beauty and complexities in the world that make me realize nothing is an accident,and there is no way that a creator could not exist. (Sorry for the double negative) People tend to focus on personal experiences in and our of the church, or the evil that humans exact on one another, or the fact that the bible and the theory of evolution do not support one another as their reasons for not believing in God. But that, to me, seems very selfish and tunnel-visioned, and just as irrational as the fundamentalist theists whom these people hate so much. And then how can you describe all of the beauty in this world?? And the intricacies of organisms? And concepts like love and charity? I think I will stick to the textual analysis of religion, and work very hard in this class to try and think like a philosopher. But I don't know if I could ever think God to death, I much prefer to experience Him.

Photo Credit: Daniel Gebhart de Koekkoek©