The Behaviour of a Coward
I have many regrets, but some of these regrets from time to time come to haunt me.
Breathing becomes difficult because they make a knot in my heart.
This, is one of these moments;
I went to a Marist catholic School in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. One day, one of the brightest students in my class was asked a direct question by our maths teacher, a Marist brother and principal of the school:
─Do you believe in God?
─No
Right there and then, in front of everyone, the principal said that he will expel him from school if he does not change his answer.
I am the sort of person that thinks things are real, even if they only exist in our minds and that we all have a different perception of reality. For example, yesterday, I had tea with three of my classmates, although we spent the afternoon together all there is left from this experience is in our minds or more so, in our memories. And the memory of yesterday's event is different for all of us. Just imagine that person A noticed that person B was wearing a silver necklace but person C and D did not take notice of this; therefore, the necklace only existed for person A who noticed it and person B who wore it.
Twenty years from yesterday, no one remembers that A, B, C and D spent the afternoon drinking tea and because it no longer exists in their memory the event seizes to be real.
Back to my classmate; the reality of God is not present in his mind but is present in the mind of the principal. This however, does not mean that the principal has the right to force his sense of reality upon my classmate.
Now, here is my moment of regret: I did not stand up and told the principal in front of everyone that neither did I, believed in God and that he would also have to expel me.
I betrayed my classmate and acted cowardly, the memory of this event will haunt me forever.
Breathing becomes difficult because they make a knot in my heart.
This, is one of these moments;
I went to a Marist catholic School in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. One day, one of the brightest students in my class was asked a direct question by our maths teacher, a Marist brother and principal of the school:
─Do you believe in God?
─No
Right there and then, in front of everyone, the principal said that he will expel him from school if he does not change his answer.
I am the sort of person that thinks things are real, even if they only exist in our minds and that we all have a different perception of reality. For example, yesterday, I had tea with three of my classmates, although we spent the afternoon together all there is left from this experience is in our minds or more so, in our memories. And the memory of yesterday's event is different for all of us. Just imagine that person A noticed that person B was wearing a silver necklace but person C and D did not take notice of this; therefore, the necklace only existed for person A who noticed it and person B who wore it.
Twenty years from yesterday, no one remembers that A, B, C and D spent the afternoon drinking tea and because it no longer exists in their memory the event seizes to be real.
Back to my classmate; the reality of God is not present in his mind but is present in the mind of the principal. This however, does not mean that the principal has the right to force his sense of reality upon my classmate.
Now, here is my moment of regret: I did not stand up and told the principal in front of everyone that neither did I, believed in God and that he would also have to expel me.
I betrayed my classmate and acted cowardly, the memory of this event will haunt me forever.
Comentários
I think God would exist even if no one believed - if God does exist :)
Similarly, I think, even if we all forgot about afternoon tea at the chapel, it will never "not have happened". All our experiences are woven into who we are whether we remember them or like them or not.
By the way (and I think you'll feel the same), these meetings are very influential, even formative, to me. There's something so very satisfying and comfortable in being able to speak about interesting things to people I like and respect without feeling judged - or worse, assessed - and listen in return.
Keep up your good work my friend.
I have always avoided religious topics on this blog, but let's try.
Hypothetically speaking, imagine human beings lacked the imagination to create a God. The existence of God depends on shared ideologies, if no one thinks about the existence of a god how can he exist?
Perhaps what you described there: "God would exist even if no one believed" is what is called faith.
And to quote from Lloyd Geering, God is the 'x' in algebra, and to ask the existence of the 'x' is non sensical until you define God. But God is undefinable.
Tricky, no?
Haha can I just add that on the actual day we met up, it only existed for us; and a few other people who knew we were meeting up. In 20 years time, it will still continue to exist and be relevant only for us.
For me, the reality of God is very relevant. Yes.
As for the necklace, is not more what the necklace means and/or stands for, rather than it's verifiable, falsifiable existence?
Shalom,
Stace