Belief and Thought

I might have touched on this some in an earlier post, but briefly. What I am keen on discussing, in this post at least, is the contrast between the usage of the word 'belief' and its derivatives and the word 'thought'. I tend to say 'I think' instead of 'I believe' when discussing matters of opinion because belief implies faith (though many people will interchange belief and think and not care otherwise) more than saying 'I think' does. Even 'I feel' seems to have less of a connotation.

Now, many people have a great deal of faith and would have no problem using belief in the phrase. I do. I did not in the past, as I was surely a true believer, but not any more. Nor do I say that thought and logic rules me... truly not. Indeed, I am less rational in defending my feelings than what was once my beliefs.

Much of this goes back to my dealings with religion and the problems I have had with them, ranging from starting as a Fundamentalist Baptist (plus 12 years of Baptist School all the way through high school), then allowing myself to be taken in by Wiccan thought. In the end, while I did not reject the concept of a god or universal hand in our lives, I certainly rejected the personifications of god/goddess in all its forms. I still feel the energy of the universe and know my place in it, but do not need to worship an anthropomorphic manifestation of the universe to understand. If this understanding is served better by your worship of a humanized divine being or otherwise, then wonderful. If it gives you power in your life and makes you happy, then I am happy for you.

So, this rejection then became my decision not to believe, but to understand and to feel.. and to know. Now, some of this is similar to belief (and I do slip from time to time... hard to shake some of that programming) but the word has such power and has caused so much destruction throughout history I have rejected it. Belief is murdering people as I write this.

The question then is... 'Am I right or wrong?' I hope I am right, really. Belief has murdered as many souls as passion, probably more. Of course, if your belief is a peaceful path to understanding of the spirit and the universe, then I hope your life is blessed by it. I simply cannot use a word to describe my understanding that has so much blood on it.

'Till we all understand,

C.