Despite being a godless heathen, I sometimes poke around blogs/diaries in search of a good religious diary. Almost invariably, I read that Christ luvs me or some such thing. Unfortunately, most of these diaries are by teenage girls and have entries like "I prayed for Bobby to ask me to the prom" followed by various quotations from the Scriptures. It's all, for me, pretty boring stuff.
I wonder why I never read a religious diary in which the author actually ponders anything or details how his or her beliefs figure into daily life. None of these people seem to reflect upon anything. Let me try to clarify.
Pretend that a Utilitarian has a diary. This person might scribe:
"Today I was confronted with a situation involving moral choice. I was forced to choose between two courses of action: A and B. So I did some hedonic calculus and determined that, while A would have been nice, I was morally compelled to choose B. Here's the high comedy that ensued..."
However boring the quotidian routine of a J.S. Mill adherent may be, at least they offered insight into how his/her beliefs inflected their daily life. And I wish a Christian would do that. Or a Muslim. Or a Hindu. Or whomever of whatever religious stripe.
What do your beliefs do for you? Are you inspired to proselytize? Do they inculcate a sense of hatred towards some of your fellow human beings because they do not share your beliefs? Would you vote for a pro-life candidate even if the rest of his platform is for shite? Did you denounce homosexuals and then find out that a friend or family memeber or co-worker whom you like was gay? What challenges your beliefs? I mean, come on, even St. Augustine was prone to doubt at points in his life.
Are there any Confessions out there?
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