Ben's Religion and Philosophy Pages

Religion and Philosophy Books... * Random Thoughts

When people ask what my religion is I always have to pause.  I wasn't raised with any particular religion and I'm not comfortable with most theistic (having a god) religions.  The best answer I can offer is that I'm a Confucian Agnostic.   No, that doesn't mean I'm confused...it means that I try to live as best I can according to the precepts of the Chinese philosopher Confucius.

Analect 14.3

"The Master said 'The knight of the Way who thinks only of sitting quietly at home is not worthy to be called a knight.'"

To me this passage means that it's not enough to think of good things or talk of good things.  You must get out and DO good things.  For me that means serving my community through organizations like Kiwanis.  Ponder that a bit on your own...if you consider yourself a good person, don't you have an obligation to help, if you can?

Analect 4.22

"The Master said 'In old days a man kept a hold on his words, fearing the disgrace that would ensue should he himself fail to keep pace with them."

This is a passage that I have to constantly remind myself of.  Essentially he's saying that the good man keeps his promises and says only what he means.  A valuable guideline for life, in my opinion.  One I rededicate myself to periodically. 

In the coming weeks I'll expand a bit more on his ideas, and those of other philosophers, but let me offer you now a couple of resources you can use to get more information for yourselves.

The most referred to work of Confucian thought is the Analects.  Click the link there and you'll be taken to a site where you can read them and study them for yourself.

Random Thoughts

Agnosticism is the belief that god (or gods) cannot be proven or disproven to exist. Not exactly earth-shattering, I know, but an important and oft-misunderstood concept.

Paraphrasing George Carlin:

"God has this list of things that he does not want you to do and if you do any of them he is going to smite you!  He's going to damn you to an eternity of burning, fiery Hell; suffering and pain.  But he loves you.  And he needs money."

More to come...soon...

Last Update:  Wednesday August 08, 2007                                                                                                         Contact Ben