[Faith-talk] blindness and faith issues question

Thu Dec 18 18:40:07 UTC 2014

I thought I would put my two cents in as well: For the past almost one year, 
I have been living with my then girlfriend and now fiance, Sarah. We live in 
seperat rooms. We are getting married soon. We have been able to stay apart 
and not do anything without breaking God's law. We love and respect 
eachother verymuch.

Rob Kaiser, President National Federation of the Blind of California Orange 
County Chapter cell#(760)792-0525 email;
rcubfank at sbcglobal.net
-----Original Message----- 
From: Brandon A. Olivares via Faith-talk
Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2014 10:31 AM
To: Debby Phillips
Cc: Faith-talk,for the discussion of faith and religion
Subject: Re: [Faith-talk] blindness and faith issues question

What is guilt? It is the response of our mind to a violation of societal, 
cultural or religious norms and expectations. It does not mean you have done 
something wrong necessarily. The question of what, if anything, is “wrong” 
is another topic entirely, but suffice it to say that just because some 
institution declares an action wrong, does not inherently make it wrong. It’s 
“wrong” for a Catholic to eat meat on a Friday, because the Church says so. 
So if a Catholic eats meat on a Friday, they feel guilt, not because it is 
an inherently wrong action, but because the religious norms they have 
subscribed to say that it is wrong. for an atheist, or a Pagan, or a Jew, or 
a Muslim, they’re not going to feel any guilt.

So what this comes down to is that a pastor subscribes to the norm that a 
boyfriend staying in one’s apartment is wrong. Now Beth has to decide 
whether she wants to subscribe to those norms or not. But it is just that: a 
norm created by a another human being, and whether she chooses to subscribe 
or not is completely up to her. It’s as simple as that.

> On Dec 18, 2014, at 1:02 PM, Debby Phillips <semisweetdebby at gmail.com> 
> wrote:
>
> Sorry Christine, often I agree with you.  This time well, nope.  First of 
> all, (and I'm setting up a premise here).  If you are a Christian, then by 
> virtue of being a Christian you have chosen to accept certain principles. 
> One of those is that we should live godly lives.  What that looks like may 
> be a little different for each person, but it will probably be lived out 
> in one of two ways: the Bible and it alone is your guide.  Then if that's 
> the case, you try, to the best of your ability to follow what Scripture 
> says.  For me as a Catholic, I follow Scripture, but within the framework 
> of the teachings and Tradition of the Church.  It's like a three-legged 
> stool: we have Scripture, Tradition (which is the accumulative writings, 
> prayers, etc.  and the Magisterium, the Teaching Church.  What is the 
> Church officially saying about this or that subject.  All three go 
> together.  (And even in churches that say they only follow Scripture, many 
> churches have manuals that give guidelines about various things.  (For 
> instance, the Free Methodist Church has the Book of Discipline.  Does 
> every decision I make have to be looked at minutely every day? No, of 
> course not.  That would be crazy.  But certainly our lives and how we live 
> them are formed by something.  Nobody operates out of a vacuum.
>
> Unresolved guilt is not healthy.  But when I feel guilty about something 
> (either before I've done it but I'm thinking about doing it) or after I've 
> done it) the healthy thing is to resolve the guilt.  If I'm feeling guilty 
> about whether to do or not do something, then I need to look at it and 
> determine whether I should do or not do whatever it is that's making me 
> feel guilty.  If I decide that I'm not going to do it, fine and good, if I 
> decide to do it then I must be aware that there will be consequences. 
> There are always consequences to our actions.  If I feel guilty after I 
> have done something then I need to decide why.  Is it something I should 
> feel guilty about? Then I need to repent, resolve not to do it again, and 
> if possible, make restitution.  If I'm just being overly sensitive and 
> there's nothing to feel guilty about, then I need to move on.  And if I'm 
> not sure, well, I need to pray, and seek out counsel.  Or as a Catholic, 
> maybe I need to go to Reconciliation.
>
> Sorry I have rambled so much.    Blessings,    Debby and Neena

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