A nation can assume that the addition of the words "under God" to its pledge of allegiance gives evidence that its citizens actually believe in God whereas all it really proves is that they believe in "believing" in God
Huston SmithRead
Seen through the eyes of faith, religion's future is secure. As long as there are human beings, there will be religion for the sufficient reason that the self is a theomorphic creature - one whose morphe (form) is theos - God encased within it. Having been created in the imago Dei, the image God, all human beings have a God-shaped vacuum built into their hearts. Since nature abhors a vacuum, people keep trying to fill the one inside them.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that faith and the need for spirituality are inherent to humanity, as people seek to fill their existential void with religion.
Huston Smith's quote reflects on the intrinsic connection between humans and religion, asserting that faith is a fundamental aspect of human nature. It conveys the idea that because humans are created in the image of God, there exists a deep-seated longing for spiritual fulfillment. This 'God-shaped vacuum' within every individual perpetually drives them to seek meaning, purpose, and connection with the divine. As long as humans exist, the quest for understanding through religion will remain a constant, emphasizing the enduring presence of faith in the human experience.
Themes
FaithReligionHumanitySpiritualityLonging
In practice
Example use cases
In a sermon discussing the role of faith in people's lives.
More from Huston Smith
All quotes βOne reason education undoes belief is its teaching of evolution; Darwin's own drift from orthodoxy to agnosticism was symptomatic. Martin Lings is probably right in saying that more cases of loss of religious faith are to be traced to the theory of evolution ... than to anything else.
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So always, if we look back, concern for face-to-face morality, and its modern emphasis on justice as well, have historically evolved as religious issues.
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The crisis that the world finds itself in as it swings on the hinge of a new millennium is located in something deeper than particular ways of organizing political systems and economies.
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...conversation can be as mutually incomprehensible as foreign languages. We need the different and complementary perspectives of the various yogas - and ideally of all religions - not only to reach God but to reach each other.
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In the post-individualistic era, science and spirituality will become allies, and human beings will realize a vast potentiality now only dimly felt.
Huston SmithRead
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