It is interesting reading the various views that are offered in the local newspaper. My particular interest is how the subject of “God” is handled.
Some years ago I was taught that what a person believed is determined by why he/she believed it. In other words, psychology comes before theology (or philosophy or worldview, whatever). Every one of us comes to the realm of “belief” with preconceived ideas.
It is no point denying that everyone of us is a believer (in something) If you were to dispute this point I would ask a question like this: “So in your view you don’t believe you’re a believer?” How could this be answered? “Yes I do believe I’m not a believer”, or “No I do not believe I’m a believer” Some things are undeniable. Why is it that life thrusts upon us this need to believe in something/someone?
· Primarily because finite minds are unable to grasp all knowledge but we know it is to our advantage to know all we possibly can. Knowledge is power.
· Not all are equipped to know, or, have neither the time necessary to know nor the inspiration to learn what others have gleaned through a lifetime of toil in their field of expertise.
· So we choose our experts.
I have it on good authority (or so it seems to me) that 90% of what we hold as true (what we know) is taken on the authority of others. We trust what they have told us is true. That means that most of what we live our life out of (our world view) has been dictated (narrated?) to us by others whom we hold in esteem or whom we trust. Maybe you don’t agree. When you were a child you trusted that when your parent taught that touching the potbelly stove was not a good thing to do, you agreed. Or maybe you didn’t- at first. (Disbelief can be a pain) Go to school- believe the teacher, go to work- believe the boss, go to the doctor- take the medicine.
We believe that most of what we have believed, we know by experience, (touch the potbelly- get burned) but this is not so. It is just such experiences that teach us it is easier to believe (in this case the parent) than to experience the pain. These painful experiences (sooner or later) reinforce and condition us to the benefit of trust and of trusting those who are our authority. (Even if, as it does for most of us, we only believe in the ultimacy of our own authority and judgement) And so we grow up with a set of beliefs and a source of those beliefs. We become believers.
So how far have we come?
Everyone is a believer
Most of what we believe is based on the authority of others (have you personally examined the footprints on the moon?)
Because of the way reality is, like it or not we all yield/agree to a belief system.
Whoever or whatever becomes your authority (your source/s of truth/knowledge will therefore dictate your perception of reality.)
What becomes essential is to examine what we believe and the reliability of our sources. An old sage said “ The unexamined life is not worth living”
Essential to that examination is to ask the question: Does my worldview adequately answer the big questions of life?
What are the big questions of life?
Origins- Where do we come from?
Purpose- What are we here for?
Security- What will keep me safe in an ultimate sense?
Fulfulment- Where will I find the most meaning for my life?
Destiny- Where am I going and how do I get there?
In the Saturday June 16 Northern Advocate in an interview with an Anglican priest some lines were quoted by Dylan. I would like to quote a line from him also: “ You gotta serve somebody” I’m not quite sure what Dylan had in mind, but I know that there is no alternative but to believe/serve one thing or the other. There is no such thing as neutrality; life does not give that option. All are believers and what you believe decides how you live.
An ancient wisdom says that whoever/whatever you give/yield yourself to you become a servant/slave of.
If your sources tell you the Bible needs to be demythologised, pretty soon it all becomes relative and you can barely assert positively whether there is a God let alone affirm the resurrection. Man becomes the measure of all things. Today's society particularly in the West has abandoned the idea of absolutes.
There are many who take an atheistic position not out of a deep sense of the reality of that system but merely because it happens to be the most convenient, its demands are miniscule it leaves people to the lifestyle that is preferred. And it is (in our society) so widely followed there is no small comfort drawn from the mutuality of that creed. It’s a very “natural” position to take, and no real commitment or effort is required to follow it. Also in this category are those who use religion in the same way, it is convenient. People have never really thought through the implications of their beliefs, they are accepted but only to the degree that it is expedient to do so. This type of “believer” (both the casual atheist and the casual religious exponent) really has at heart another set of beliefs at work at the deeper level. They go something like this “go with the flow”, “peace at any price”, “live and let live” and the like. Truth is sacrificed for peace.
Even the agnostic (one who believes that these deeper issues cannot be known) is not neutral; he cannot consistently deny knowledge without also denying his own position, (how does he know that he cannot know?) All of these positions are at the most basic level escapist.
As a product of our secular society I was somewhat astounded to learn that up until a hundred or so years ago most of humanity throughout recorded history has held to the existence of God/gods. Equally astounding was the revelation that some of the thinkers of earlier times were highly sophisticated thinkers. And some of the arguments for the existence of God were accordingly highly developed. So much so that their arguments are still valid to this day. We tend to think this is the age of sophistication, in technological terms yes, in terms of ability to think- alas no! This is the busy age, not the thinking age. Consequently many people are incapable of reasoning through more than one or two layers of thought. We are easier to control that way.
Beware of what you believe, beliefs translate into thoughts which arouse emotions which in turn
result in actions.
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