In Reply: The honest faith of Elizabeth Edwards

In reply to: dotCommonweal - The honest faith of Elizabeth Edwards:

David Gibson: Thank you for a post respectful to believer, questioner, and non-believer, alike.

While I'm not so certain that questions, debates, or even discussions about the nature and sufficiency of faith of a dying/very recently deceased woman should be a topic of conversation among the general public (friends and family are one thing, but most of us are strangers to each other, let alone to Elizabeth Edwards), since it has been made a question by this blogger, Donald Douglas, you handling of the topic has been among the best I've read, gentle and fair to all points of view, including Mr. Douglas'.

While I don't think Mr Douglas understood your message--he accuses you of "apologizing for Mrs. Edwards' rejection of God," which is certainly not the message I took from your piece--most readers more'n'likely understood that faith can be very personal, and that it's not always about the "public display of expression" of faith. Like affection, some displays are best left between two; you and him or her, in one case, and you and Him, in the other.

@Jimmy Mac: Thanks for the Merton quote. I'd forgotten that one, and I think it really adds perspective to the discussion.

“Faith means doubt. Faith is not the suppression of doubt. It is the overcoming of doubt, and you overcome doubt by going through it. The man of faith who has never experienced doubt is not a man of faith.” - Thomas Merton