Feelings/Emotions and reason/Intellect

[Universalist Catholic]

I think that seems to be the biggest issue between Secularists and religionists.  Both sides see the other side as narrow minded.  Truth is both sides can be narrow minded, but on different matters.  The Secularists seem to only rely on Reason and intellect, where the Religionists seem to only rely on Feelings and Emotions.  Its like designing a building.  You need both the technical and creative aspects to create a building.  If I wanted to design a stadium, I could not just draw up some random pics of what I expect, and then start construction.  The building would not turn out okay.  It would be a big mess.  So we would also need to draw out everything to figure out how to make the stadium ideas fit together.  Yet if you had no ideas on what to build, all your gonna have is a sterile structure with not purpose.  It would be stable and reasonably built, but pretty useless.  This reminds me of my experience.  When I got sucked into Fundamentalist Catholicism, I got myself stuck into a state of emotion based theology, primarily based on terror or sap.  With the terror side of the story, its all Hellfire, damnation, Mortal sin, judgment, legalism and being in the right church.  Yet I wanted to try to eliminate some of the fear theology, and went to this Medjudgorge event, and had never heard so much sap in my life.  Neither the fear gospel or the sap gospel made any sense.  One was a black hole of legalism, and the other cheap grace.  And this is the same that happens with Fundamentalist Protestantism.  So I was on the roller coaster between the sap and fear theology till I had major anxiety over this matter.  So then I turned into a real intellectual who just ignored my Emotions.  Even after accepting UR.  But this put me in a hole, since I did not want to live in this emotion based system, I wanted a faith system fully based on reason alone.  That just kept me stuck in a hole, and I got frustrated, because I could not get out due to lack of emotion.  I honestly believe the reason that many times Fundamentalist make irrational judgments is because they rely too much on feeling. 

[shawn]

Both feelings and intellect can/will/do deceive.  So, how does one know?  John 10:27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

Chasing the next wave of emotion, or trying to reason everything out will leave you wanting.  We are being trained to hear his voice clearly.  We will know by faith our next steps.  Right now, I am in the mist of this...listening to the Holy Spirit...looking for direction.  I know by faith that God will open and close doors.  I know by faith that he maps out my steps.  I know that he will use everything in my life for my good.

Today, I try not to stess out so much about which doctrine is right, which doctrine is wrong, debates, battles or anything of the like.  I live in the now knowing God is changing me, my understanding and faith almost daily.  I live in that, knowing I am able to hear the voice that is leading me.  It doesn't mean all my questions are answered.  It certainly doesn't mean he gives me answers on my own timeline but I see his hand moving even when all around me is still.

[Nathan]

You stated
The Secularists seem to only rely on Reason and intellect, where the Religionists seem to only rely on Feelings and Emotions. 
But then you said . . .
I honestly believe the reason that many times Fundamentalist make irrational judgments is because they rely too much on feeling
Isn't a religionist and a fundamentalist the same category of people?

Feelings and emotions are merely the reaction to what we're already seeing.  Ripples in a pond are the reaction to the rock that was dropped into the water.  Trying to find substance in a ripple is about as futile as trying to rely on emotion.  What "caused" the emotion?  That's where the substance is.  I've become a lot more "emotional" since walking out of religion and into freedom.  But I don't at all rely on those emotions.  Feelings are actually based on beliefs.  People are saddened when a loved one of theirs passes without saying the magic words.  Why do they FEEL sad?  Because they BELIEVE that the person is now in hell forever.  But if the same person dies, but a person BELIEVED they lived a Christian life, they would then FEEL happy because they BELIEVE the person is now in a better place.

I think for me, both the religionists and the secular are living according to their natural reasoning.  Both have feelings they rely on, but neither of them are really reproducing life in others.  I also think that the secular person is at an advantage to entering into the freedom of Christ than the religionist because there's less riff-raff that needs to be torn down before they can let Jesus build them up.