Faith

I'm all in favor of people believing anything they want — except when their behavior affects others in a negative way. To believe in any of the "big three" Abrahamic religions, you have to accept several tenets. You have to believe in supernatural miracles; that God can't make any mistakes; that God is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent; and that God gave us a "soul" to name a few. Exactly when the soul enters the body — if it exists at all — is up for grabs. And if you ask any of the 36,000 Christian sects in America, you'll find different ideas on not only what a soul is, but when believers think it enters their body.

Question: How can one's belief and/or faith have any influence whatsoever regarding what either is or is not absolute truth and/or reality? Isn't the kind of reality or truth you speak of more like the reality and truth of Santa Claus? Certainly, our beliefs and our faiths influence our behavior, but aren't you saying that our beliefs essentially create the reality of God in our lives? If so, then are you also willing to say that without these beliefs, God ceases to exist? More directly, does God have any separate existence apart from our beliefs?

On Wednesday, in a stand against the bullying of lesbian and gay children, people all over the world wore purple. It was interesting to see who donned the royal shade. I took note at our inter-faith luncheon, at the grocery store, even as I was driving and observing those walking on the street. Suddenly, I was keenly aware of people all around me. This was a visual code to signify support and safety. I felt instantly close to people I did not know. This simple sign demonstrated a commitment to stand against hatred and violence, and stand in support of gay children — indeed people — everywhere.

Question: I lost my 22-year-old daughter to a possible heroin overdose. I won't have the answers until the medical examiner's office speaks to me in a few weeks. I found her on the floor of her bedroom. A syringe was found in her bed. She'd recently come home from rehab. While she'd only been back a month, I thought we were doing all right. Relapse was always a concern, but I never thought I'd lose her. I spoke to her that morning. She was excited about a job interview and we were getting a Christmas tree that afternoon.

Radio broadcast veteran Warren Duffy will speak at St. James Anglican Church at 7 p.m. Wednesday as part of the church’s “Steadfast in Faith” lecture series. For a decade, afternoon drive-time radio listeners in Southern California tuned in to hear the daily talk program “Duffy and Company — Live From L.A.” A free dinner will be served before the lecture at 6 p.m. Offerings will be accepted at the event. St. James Anglican Church is at 3209 Via Lido.

Members of mega-church Harvest Christian Fellowship were surprised this weekend by the sight of grief-stricken Pastor Greg Laurie, a Newport Beach resident, who took the pulpit despite the very recent death of his son, Christopher Laurie. “It was not a distant relationship,” Greg Laurie said. “Thankfully I don’t have to sit around worrying he didn’t know I loved him. He knew I loved him.” Laurie, 33, a graphic artist and Huntington Beach resident who spent the last three years as the church’s art director, died the morning of July 24 in a car accident in Corona, according to authorities.

Young Chang An unexpected moment of thoughtfulness was all it took to get author Dale Salwak started on his new book, "Faith and the Family." It happened in his hometown of Amherst, Mass. He was staring at the outside of the home his father had built, and memories rushed back. The first time he saw a magician -- at age 5 -- and the first magic show he ever did. His parents hired him for his own birthday party and paid him $2 for a 30-minute show.

Rick Devereux Faith is a strange thing. Most people have it when it is useless and lose it when they are in most need of it. No one needs faith when things are going well, it might seem. But despair sets in once the tide shifts and faith is gone. But not Bob Lussier. He has faith even when Job of the Bible would start to have doubts. Lussier, 42, grew up in Fountain Valley and was on the high school football and track and field teams.

Alex Coolman "What do I do religiously?" Nathan Englander wondered out loud. The 28-year-old writer, author of a New York Times best-selling collection of short stories, was sitting in a hotel room in Cleveland, Ohio, waiting for room service to bring him his breakfast. "I try to go to the gym religiously," Englander decided. "And sometimes I skip that and eat another bacon-turkey wrap in the hotel." The answer, for readers who have heard of Englander's work, may come as a surprise.

A true atheist is one who is willing to face the full consequences of what it means to say there is no God. For example, if he or she says, "In the absence of absolute standards, I declare that murder is wrong in the name of common sense," then they have made "common sense" their absolute standard. What is in accord with "common sense" is "right" and what isn't is "wrong." Or, "what is American" is "right" and what isn't is "wrong;" or "what is legal" is "right" and "what is illegal" is "wrong;" or "what works" is "right" and "what is pointless" is "wrong."

In my work in the interfaith community over nearly 30 years, whenever the subject of religion has come up, I've often heard this comment: "Well, I am not religious, but I am spiritual. " My immediate reaction was to wonder what the speaker meant by that. Was he or she raised in a religious environment but still considered themselves a "good person" after having rejected the teachings of their family's faith? Was that person rejecting "organized religion" generally? Did he or she see some who claimed to be religious as being hypocritical?

Years ago, while I was visiting a South American city's cathedral at a time when the country was under a brutal military regime, I overheard a tour guide complaining to his tour group that there were members of the clergy preaching politics. This was not the role of the church, he emphasized. "People don't come to church to hear politics," was the view he expressed. "The church should stick to religious matters. " Would you want to belong to a church that was content to sing hymns while people nearby were being tortured?

I have always been captivated by how humanity explains its presence in the world and how it views itself in the universe. If we go by most accepted historical facts, humanity as we know it, modern homo sapiens, began on the planet some 40,000 to 60,000 years ago, during which there were several ice ages, many floods and a lot of dark cold nights. Each generation had to feed itself, create communities to protect itself and figure out the cycles of the seasons, the sun and, most importantly, the moon.

Last week Hedy and I attended the memorial service for Jessica Joy Rees. The memorial was at the huge - and jam-packed - Saddleback Church in Lake Forest. Jessie is the remarkable 12-year-old Orange County girl who died Jan. 5 of a brain tumor. The seventh-grader battled the insidious disease for 10 months, and started a blog and a Facebook page to increase worldwide awareness of pediatric cancer. The service was at once tragic and sad, but also uplifting and inspirational.

Most atheists don't have faith of any kind. What they do have is hope — a natural hope that the important things in our life will go well. A believer's prayer is an atheist's hope. Concerning the age-old cosmological question about the beginning of the universe, an atheist would have confidence (no faith required) in the consensus of the professionals, otherwise known as astrophysicists, cosmologists and astronomers. They spend nearly their entire adult lifetime to try and explain how the natural laws work in the universe.

Question: How can one's belief and/or faith have any influence whatsoever regarding what either is or is not absolute truth and/or reality? Isn't the kind of reality or truth you speak of more like the reality and truth of Santa Claus? Certainly, our beliefs and our faiths influence our behavior, but aren't you saying that our beliefs essentially create the reality of God in our lives? If so, then are you also willing to say that without these beliefs, God ceases to exist? More directly, does God have any separate existence apart from our beliefs?

It's that time of the year again. After the holiday decorations have been taken down, the old-time ritual of the New Year's resolutions list is posted to the refrigerator. What's on your list this year? For most people, it is probably a reprinted list but with an adjusted new year: (1) lose weight; (2) eat healthier; (3) exercise; (4) get out of debt; (5) stop smoking, etc. Traditionally, people tend to make a resolution around the start of the New Year as they reflect on the old year and look forward to the new one. For many, the New Year symbolizes a chance for a fresh start and a new beginning in their life.

Editor's Note: As people in Newport-Mesa and Irvine prepare to ring in 2012, the Pilot thought it fitting to re print this column that appeared under the old "Spiritual Guidance" heading in December 2007. * May you get a clean bill of health from your dentist, your cardiologist, your urologist, your orthopedist, your psychiatrist, your plumber and the IRS. May your hair, your teeth, your abs and your stocks not fall; may your blood pressure, your triglycerides, your cholesterol and your mortgage interest not rise.

It was almost the end of August, almost the end of summer. The tourists were all heading home. There was a good chance the national park would close in the next week until the following May. Snow was on its way. Summer's end was near. But for the park staff, it was a party. Maybe it should have been a goodbye party. Most of the staff would not see each other for nine months. They jokingly called it their city deployment. Or their pregnancy leave. So it should have been a time of tears and farewells, blended with vague promises to see you next season.

You don't have to be a mensch to enjoy a good film, but a willingness to read subtitles may help. The Orange County Jewish Film Festival has announced a lineup of 10 international films to begin screening Jan. 15 to March 28 at Regal Entertainment Group's Westpark 8 Theatre at Culver and Alton Parkway in Irvine. "Our movies are primarily Jewish-themed," said Gene Alterman, executive director of OCJFF. "But, the films really are for everybody. Each year, we show some fabulous films that can fit any age, culture, race or ethnicity.