Faith was never intended to separate People from each other...thanks to the reminder of Pope Francis
Posted on Friday, 2 January 2015
Faith
was Never Intended
To
Separate the People from Each Other
…thanks
to Pope Francis for this reminder
By Apolinario Villalobos
I am mustering a great courage in coming up
with this share. I was challenged by a comment from an obviously heretic on one
of my blogs in another site where he said: “you did fine, but I hope religion
is out of it”. My blog was about random act of kindness, not about religion, so
I was surprised why he came up with such an uncalled for comment. For coming up
with such statement, I am forced to express that, for me, kindness can never be
separated from religion or faith for that matter. Although, such act could be
unconsciously manifested, it cannot be denied that it is still founded on faith
that has been developed in our heart since birth. Religious affinity came only
later on, with some having been imposed days after birth, while the rest have
been left to be chosen later when the child becomes old enough to understand
what faith is all about.
As there is no “highest” earthly authority
on religion, man is left at the mercy of the different “churches” that compete
with each other in attracting “flocks” to their folds. They employ interesting
ways to best explain how man came to be and how he can be happy forever. Science-
based groups even aver that the passages in the Old Testament about unearthly
manifestation of powers were made by extra-terrestials, and which they consider
as the first missionaries on earth. Unfortunately, they could not explain how
these “missionaries” could give the “chosen people” an order to annihilate the
so-called “gentiles”, when Godliness is supposed to be about goodness.
Today, the Universal Roman Catholic church
has a popular pope… the people’s pope, Francis, who unabashedly admitted
wrongdoings among his ministers, while at the same time, untiringly calls for
love and compassion. In the eyes of other churches, pope Francis may not be the
highest earthly religious authority, but for those who do not need a Bible or a
Koran to understand and feel that there is God, his call for unconditional love
and compassion is the most believable that a missionary can utter, a call that
is clearly tinged with utmost faith.
If man will only focus his faith towards
the One whose intention was never to create animosities on earth, instead of keeping
an eye on what his neighbors are doing, the pope could have perhaps, been just
calling on every one to sing praises, instead of sounding off reminders to
everyone to love one another.
My simple understanding is that, there is
only one kind of faith…and those who feel otherwise, must have in their heart,
what I call “arrogance”. These are those who trace their ancestry to the apes
or the fish…without thinking that these so-called “ancestors” still owe their
existence to “someone”… leaving us with one question, as to who is that
“someone”. Also, if man came into being by chance, “who” caused this chance, or
better, if it is a “force”, “what” or “who” is that “force”? Clearly, the
groups differing in claims point to one common insufficiently explained object,
so that there is no reason for bickering. At the end, each one is left to his
own faith…and the one who manifests the best through action becomes the most
convincing.
Discussion