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Stacking the Shelves is a weekly feature hosted by Reading Reality. It is a chance to showcase all the goodies you've collected throughout the week, whether they're bought on-line or in-store, an ARC or a final copy, borrowed from a friend or the library, physical or digital, etc.
Library Treasures
Happy Reading!
Sarah
I'm intrigued by the Atheism books... What prompted that?
ReplyDeleteJust one non-fiction (again) from me this week:
Agatha Christie - A Very Short Introduction by Gill Plain
It started a couple years ago with something involving the pastors of our church that led to them leaving. We stopped going after the dust settled because when we did go back, there were still people who supported him and that was not okay. And his wife (both were pastors) also still supported him and said some inappropriate things about the whole situation during one of the youth groups. It was heartbreaking because I was so close to both of them. He'd come to pray over my classroom before school started; she'd come to the hospital so many times when Eleanor was having follow-up visits after kidney surgeries; they were such a constant in our lives for so many years.
DeleteBut as we have been away from our church, I have been questioning a lot of things and ultimately there are too may things that are simply wrong, or do not sit right with the what we are told vs what the Bible shows us. Firstly, Mary did not consent to being a VERY young mother. Obviously this was not an issue 2,000 years ago, but it is very much an issue to me, today. Secondly, the idea of free will. If we have free will, but God knows what we are going to do, and we were created in his image, why create us with the urges to sin, and if he knows we are going to sin, then that's not free will. And if he already knows what we are going to do, why are we being punished for something he made within in us?
Eleanor and I are working through A LOT right now.
Free Will is a *very* tricky subject where an Omnipotent deity is concerned! I do think that we *have* Free Will, but we have it because we're self-aware because (I think) our complex brains developed consciousness through the evolutionary process.
DeleteI've never had any faith in any religion growing up, so when I read into it more later I thought straight away that it didn't make a whole lot of sense and honestly struggled with the idea that anyone could believe it. The BEST of luck in your struggles and I hope you come out the other side (whatever you decide) without TOO much trauma.
Thank you so much. Eleanor and I are talking about it a lot and luckily working through it together.
DeleteIt never sat right with me that we always hear about how loving and caring God is, but only for those who believe in him because he killed TONS and TONS of people in the OT. And how is it right that people of different faiths who believe in different gods (but with basically the same principles) would still go to hell for not believing in God and Jesus? And really, if God is willing to sacrifice his only son for the sins of humanity (that he created in us in the first place), then the dude is fine with abortion. Ugh.
If you feel the need to chew over the philosophical fat, just drop a comment on any of my posts & I'll be happy to oblige (or at least as much as I can). I may be fairly low on theological knowledge but I'm quite well educated in bits of philosophy...
DeleteThank you so much, I really appreciate it. It's just like this switch was flipped in my head and I sitting here going, "what the hell was I thinking?" It feels very weird.
DeleteI often find its good just letting the brain mull things over in the background without giving it *too* much focus. Just keep enough of an eye on things so it doesn't come to the boil and ruin things. When it gets to the point where you can (or need) to pay attention - you know THAT point when the sizzle sound changes to tell you its DONE - your brain will be rested enough to give whatever pops out you full attention.
DeleteThat's honestly the best route. There are things that have always been kind of tugging at my brain for so long as something that did not make sense (but I ignored it because I thought the overall beliefe was more important). But now all these little things have finally cascaded over and I am seeing everything differently.
DeleteLooks like a bit of a theme this week! Were you just exploring that bit in the library or did something prompt the spree? Hope you enjoy/find them useful!
ReplyDeleteThis is something that has been in my brain for a while, after a situation occurred at our church a couple years ago that ultimately resulted in our pastors (a wife and husband team) leaving. It was hard to go back, knowing people still supported them, and in that time Eleanor and I have started questioning a lot of things.
DeleteI've always struggled within the confines of the church in regards to the stance on lgbtqia+ as an Ally of the community, but now there are so many things that I just kind of brushed aside that I just can't anymore. Because when I sit down and rally think about them, these are major glaring issues.
Firstly, Mary did not consent to being a VERY young mother. Obviously this was not an issue 2,000 years ago, but it is very much an issue to me, today. Secondly, the idea of free will. If we have free will, but God knows what we are going to do, and we were created in his image, why create us with the urges to sin, and if he knows we are going to sin, then that's not free will. And if he already knows what we are going to do, why are we being punished for something he made within in us?
It's a lot, and Eleanor are working through A LOT of issues right now!