The Attack on Belief
This post is not about Evolution, nor is it about the existence of God. It’s safe to say that I, as a 21 year old university student, will never solve that dilemma (and neither will you, mystery visitor). I want to clearly and wholly write about my view of the state of belief and how it’s viewed by people these days. There’s my mission statement + disclaimer.
There are two states of being that our minds rely on. The first is the concrete world where we use our physical senses to evaluate our surroundings. The second is the formless state where physically undefinable things, such as ideas, hopes, dreams, etc lie. Belief exists in the realm of the formless and we all possess beliefs. When you believe something, there is no imperative to introduce evidence to “prove” anything. A belief is really just a container for what we see as the truth of something. I believe that vegetarianism is a fad. I might believe that because I see a lot of young people choose that lifestyle, but I really have no proof. I know that vegetarianism is a fad. Sorry, but even I can’t prove that statement.
That example outlines the fundamental difference between believing and knowing. We cannot prove our beliefs by saying that we know something and vice versa. I’m free to believe that Jesus turned water into wine, but I can’t say that I know that. How would I know that? The answer is that it’s impossible for me to ever know, even based off of the content of the Bible. The Bible is a collection of beliefs and it’s often demeaned because of this. Yes, there are people who believe that the Bible is a firsthand recount of “actual” events that “really took place”, but it is impossible to ever confirm that since the Bible is not a firsthand source. Is it wrong to believe in it then? No.
Humans believe all sorts of things. We believe in aliens, reincarnation, karma, Heaven, true love, time machines, and countless other things that are very real to us in our minds. Belief isn’t a horrible thing at all. I believe that the saying “”People who live in glass houses should not throw stones” is a good reminder for me to look at my own life before judging someone else’s. Beliefs are what allow us to bring our perception into the formless realm without feeling the need to explain ourselves. They’re something that we’re comfortable in asserting without explanation.
The trouble begins to stir when we try to rationalise and prove our beliefs. I can’t prove to you that God exists. I can tell you though that I’ve had times in my life where that belief has helped me through problems. Belief is part of who we are. We can discriminate in which beliefs we want to choose to accept, and which not to. When dealing with abstract things, it’s impossible.
I must duly stress that discrimination against abstract beliefs is not acceptable and even borders on hypocritical. The only time that the challenging of beliefs is acceptable is when something physical is being disputed. If someone told me that they believed that atoms didn’t exist, I would help them to understand that they do.
In the end, we all believe something. Some of us believe that our parents love us unconditionally, others have their own reasons as to why that’s not true. It’s never down to us to dispute a belief though.
– Unrelated Note –
What is up with people replying to their own “Leaving” topics in the Sandbox? If you’re leaving, you’re doing yourself an injustice by being totally unable to walk away.
Tags: Really deep, RSBANDB |
April 10th, 2008 at 4:47 am
Religion is often classed as “more than a belief” by those who believe in it. It’s that which heightens the aggressiveness of those who’re being challenged by an opposite belief such as Islam Christianity.
It gets even more complicated ni a Science vs. Religion debate because those who’re trying to argue that religion is “false” with String Theory and the like; but the ironic thing is that no-one is ever going to prove string theory or why the big bang happened - the same way religion will never be proven or disproven.
I feel I’m rambling about something off-topic now but what the hell, it’s nice to see a somewhat neutral post on the topic once in a while. Byee.
April 10th, 2008 at 8:18 am
Well put.
April 10th, 2008 at 10:18 am
I’ve just realised I’m still subscribed to your RSS feed. And a few other peoples too.
Anyway, what you say poses a good point, however there is something important to note that sometimes things we believe are based on things we know, on evidence, or on logic or probability.
I believe in aliens, or at least, some form of live out there in the universe, because the logical probability of the existence of some form of self-interested chemical process (which is essentially what life is) in a universe with many billions of stars and planets is near 1.
I’ll use your example of vegetarians: While you cannot say ‘I know vegetarianism is a fad’ you can say ‘I believe it is a fad - there is some evidence that it could be a fad’. You can base a belief on evidence. Or you can ignore evidence or lack thereof and just believe something regardless.
I believe plenty of stuff, but I aim to base my beliefs on some kind of evidence or past experience, rather than just believing something for the hell of it or through some kind of blind faith.
April 10th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
@Matt: I thought about that when writing this post, but for brevity’s sake I stopped short. I think that evidence for beliefs can be very touchy and circumstantial. The way we use facts, probability, and logic can still lead to incorrect conclusions because a lot of assumption still takes place. Until we can actually say “It is certain that…” our assertions lie in the realm of belief.
That said, it’s never a bad thing to try to find evidence for beliefs. By finding evidence for our beliefs, we set a new standard for ourselves. But a lot of beliefs are just..impossible to really prove.
Again, trouble arises when we try to justify our beliefs, or make them seem superior to others by trying to use concrete evidence. Even if probability says that it might be likely that there are intelligent lifeforms in our universe, there is always the chance that it may not be. It’s something that’s hard even for me to do. I’ve heard of people who believe that the Matrix is real and that all humans are really in a state of forced hibernation by our robot overlords. I can ridicule that idea and say that it’s highly unlikely, but I could never completely rule that out.
It’s a hard line to walk
April 13th, 2008 at 11:06 am
@Matt: We’re all addicted to the forums.
There is little difference between killing in the name of religion and killing in the name of ideology. Atheism was a large part of the communist ideology and through that it is really no different that killing “in the name of..”. Now I’m not trying to say that religion and atheism are equally horrid because people have died from them (either directly or indirectly). There are ruthless people in the world who do not value human lives, and they can be of any religion, race, anything.
Humans will manipulate other humans to gain power. Using religion, politics, etc is really just a diversion for the bigger scheme. The desire for power the biggest flaw that we have as people and there are extreme cases where it manifests itself to a truly dangerous degree.
April 16th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Interesting thought.
In this day and age, I find it ironic that people try to be politically correct, yet they openly attack belief and faith. While some may call me “faithless” and other things, I have no mind to attack their beliefs. Why is this?
I have a healthy respect in others beliefs. I may not believe in things that I can not see and that can not be proven by science, I respect the right that people do believe in things that are unseen. Maybe if something changes my beliefs one day, then so be it.
Congratulations on making me think philosophically again MQ. It’s nice to read something deep and intellectual.