Kierkegaard made a number of quotes along these lines, all using the phrase, “by virtue of the absurd.” This is the kind of stuff that a few indignant atheists have a heyday with. But I think this deserves a closer look. Here are my thoughts on the matter.

People are scared of faith. Nobody will admit this. For this reason, many Christians spend their daydreaming on thinking up ways to conclusively prove God’s existence. We attempt to find logical proofs of Christian doctrine or scientific evidence of creation, and we look for miracles because we want undeniable proof of God working in the mortal realm. We even go as far as stretching the truth to create miracles where there aren’t any. The concept of faith scares people so much that we try to rationalize it and change it from belief in the unprovable to objective acceptance of observable facts.

If this sounds familiar, it might be because I had similar things to say about Existential freedom, meaning freedom of choice (and, ultimately, personal responsibility for that choice). This is pretty much the same concept. If we accept a fact, we can’t be held personally responsible for our choice; if we uphold a belief which can never be proven, we hold a lot more responsibility for that belief. So, just like many people try to give their freedom of choice and independent thought away, many Christians try to give their faith away in exchange for flimsy truths and smoke and mirrors.

This is really damaging to many Christians. If our beliefs in God are firmly supported on a table of perceived facts, so to speak, and one of the legs of that table gets kicked out from under us, we scramble to find new support for our belief. Sometimes, we find it; sometimes, we don’t; but sometimes, we replace those legs with other legs of shoddy workmanship, and we trust in that support as much as the old legs. That happens enough times, and eventually the entire table just collapses. When that happens—and there’s a good chance that it will eventually happen—we need faith to fall back on. With enough faith, we don’t need that table at all.

Now, I’m not saying that we should ignore logical fallacies and cease working out our own salvation with fear and trembling. I’m just saying that we need to realize that there are some aspects of faith that can be neither proven nor disproven. If we seek out false certainty as a crutch, it’ll carry us for a while—maybe even our whole lives—but we’re missing out on the deepest parts of faith.

“The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.”
- Hebrews 11:1-2 (The Message)

“Riddle please help me solve it ”
“What is this glass ceiling feminists talk about?”
“Christians: is this a sign?”
“Super difficult riddle. I can’t handle it.”
“When someone shouts out, ‘that’s what she said,’ who is she and why has she got so much to say?”
“In old legends, what are some of the things werewolves hated the most other than silver and vampires?”

So, as you can see, I’m helping people left and right. I’m almost a level two answerer, which means I’ll soon be able to cast magic missile. (I think. I’m a little unsure on what that actually does.)

Hi Curtis,

Sorry to email out of the blue… I work for Talkbackthames on ITV1′s hit entertainment show ‘Britain’s Got Talent’, which is now back for a forth series. The show gives people and animals the opportunity to showcase their talents in front of a panel of three judges (Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden). The last series was watched by nearly 20 million viewers and is hailed as one of the most successful talent shows
of this century.

The show is open to absolutely anyone – any talent, any age – and over the past three years we’ve had a huge variety of acts. This year we are really keen to showcase gifted animals… there is always space for animal acts on the show, which the judges and audience love to see. I came across your skateboarding dogs website online and would really like to get in contact with some dogs who skateboard in the UK. I would really appreciate it if you could point me in the right direction and put me in contact with any skateboarding dogs you know of in Britain?

Over the last three years we have had a singer, dancer and dance group win and although they were extremely talented there may be more unusual talent in Britain that could benefit from the opportunities they have, namely a grand prize of £100,000 and the chance to perform at The Royal Variety show in front of Her Majesty the Queen.

We are auditioning up and down the country over the next couple of months and wouldn’t want you them to miss the opportunity. You can contact me on this email or call – XXXX XXX XXXX.

Many thanks and I look forward to hearing from you.

Louise Major
Researcher
Britain’s Got Talent 4

Unfortunately, the e-mail was sent back in October, otherwise I would respond to it. I don’t know what I’d do if they mentioned the site on the air—it’s not like there’s much to do there.

So that’s my latest brush with fame. Visit the site and share it with friends!

I think the users need something they can connect with on the form. I’m thinking a penguin. Could you make a penguin holding a little pennant that says, “College is cool”? I think this will speak well to the young, hip generation. The pennant should be red.

Nick came back with this:

Brandon, not sure on the penguin – but if you have any supporting data that penguins indeed drive lead volume, then I will relent.

To which I replied:

Here’s the supporting data. So you can imagine what we could do with the pennant!

I’m waiting for the perfect opportunity to use this image.

Dear Liz –

The Kingdom of PPC Development hereby grants you this designer paper clip and tiny pad of Post-It notes as a peace offering in light of the events that transpired during Friday’s webinar. Curtis Hornbuckle, our court jester, has been flogged for this offense. We sincerely hope that our gift of one designer paper clip and tiny pad of Post-It notes will ensure a friendship between our two kingdoms for years to come.

Give my regards to Duchess Erica! [Liz's manager]

Brandon Gregory
The Duke of PPC Dev

Curtis Hornbuckle
I am qwrite for the getting leadforms in xml. is this posible?
If I in xml format the leadform acciedentally?
API is ready yes yes?

Host
This is not something available right now but it could be in the future.

Curtis Hornbuckle
The future of leadforms?

Host
No no it is not ready.

Curtis Hornbuckle
leadforms are not ready?
Put a shoe on head

Host
Put a shoe in your mouth!

Curtis Hornbuckle
Put shoe on head and I will get you the leads!

Host
Looks like you need more work.

Curtis Hornbuckle
Oh, uhhh… What are you talking about?
I will go get you some leads!