Saturday 19 September 2009

Euripides: "The wisest men follow their own direction."

Note: I hereby declare Saturday to be my Share-a-Quote Day. Sundays will be Share-a-Link Day.

This Satuday's quote is from Euripides: "The wisest men follow their own direction."

This wisdom is perhaps one of the reasons why I was never attracted to the 'Good Shepherd' metaphor. To follow one's own direction is not an open invitation to anarchy nor does it confine oneself to one's own ideas only. And anarchy is not necessarily chaos. Who needs a government of idiots leading a herd of idiots? No, not me.

I have no shepherd. I am no sheep. Do not ask my faith, I do not give it blindly. Do not demand my trust, give me a reason why I should. Do not lead me, I shall not follow. But you may take my hand and we may talk. Like men, like companions, like friends. Like free thinkers.

What about you? What is faith and up to what extent should a person act on it? Is faith even a reasonable concept?
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3 comments:

  1. Mugen20 September 2009 at 02:15

    I am not wise enough to steer my own rudder, that is why I need to believe in something.

    Anything that would remind me that harmony exists in the universe.

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  2. rudeboy20 September 2009 at 02:15

    Do you remember what they say about miracles? "To those who believe, no explanation is necessary. To those who do not, no explanation will suffice."

    I seriously began to question religion (a separate entity from faith, although the two are often intertwined) when I became a man. And from what my intellect has observed, shepherds can often lead the flock - to their slaughter.

    I don't believe in blind faith. If religion is meant to make me see the light, then do not ask anything blind of me, whether it be obedience or acceptance.

    Act according to the dictates of your conscience. Which itself is faith - faith that you can tell right from wrong for yourself, and not according to the dictates of someone invoking The Angry Invisible Man In The Sky.

    Follow your heart, but lead with your mind.

    Thanks for the quote and the post.

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  3. Niel22 September 2009 at 08:40

    Is there anybody (or number of folks) who influenced you to think that way? Then, you have been programmed.

    Can you give a totally original idea (not just a synthesis and nobody has thought of it yet)?

    Those are the questions my partner asked me when we discussed about free will.

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