Belief required

-
Occasionally I will meet a person assiduously devoted to the scientific method of positing a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis' veracity, and then modifying the hypothesis as warranted before initiating a new round of testing. More than one such individual has maintained that s/he seeks to live strictly on the basis of fact, assiduously striving to eradicate all unsupported beliefs from her/his life.

Claims that a person can navigate life's major decisions without beliefs seem fatuous to me. For example, should one marry? If so, whom should one choose as her/his spouse? Although social scientists are beginning to accumulate some data about the attributes of what will make for a healthy, happy marriage, the research is far from adequate for preparing anyone to analyze possible life partners and then to decide who will make the best spouse. A person necessarily plunges into the deep, uncertain waters of marriage hopeful but with no guarantee of success.

Similarly, what career or occupation should one pursue? Whether described as a calling (e.g., to the ordained ministry or to the bar) or as a preference (e.g., to join the Navy instead of the Army), the choice of a career or occupation entails significant beliefs about one's abilities, skills, future happiness, job requirements, etc. Vocational tests may help a person to assess personality, talents, and preferences but no amount of testing can guarantee success, much less happiness.

At best, collection and analysis of all relevant information can enable a person to make an educated guess about probable outcomes of decisions regarding marriage, vocation, and so forth. Actual decisions entail beliefs about the decision's likely outcome. Sometimes one may choose to play the odds; on other occasions, one may feel that s/he is likely to be the exception who beats the odds rather than the norm. In other words, life inescapably requires belief.

Our beliefs are always a mixture of confidence and doubt. Beliefs by their very nature lack the certainty of facts.

I believe in God. That is, after collecting and analyzing the data I believe that I discern a force at work in the cosmos that is not reducible to physics, chemistry, biology, or math. The cosmos exhibits, I believe, a trajectory toward life, love, and justice that is otherwise unexplainable. This force (God) constitutes the essence of the religious impulse and is evident in all of the world's great religions. My belief in God lies at the center of my life.

Belief is required, not optional. Socrates at his trial for impiety famously declared, "The unexamined life is not worth living." Thus, vital questions are: What belief(s) form the center of your existence? Do your beliefs provide a solid foundation for a satisfying and rewarding life? Does your life's foundation include beliefs of which you are unaware? What beliefs might strengthen that foundation? Is belief in God as the ground of being (a phrase borrowed from Paul Tillich) part of that foundation?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jesus, Lamb of God

-
The image of Jesus as the Lamb of God pervades Christianity. The lamb is a familiar symbol for Jesus, found not only in today's gospel[1] but also throughout the New Testament as well as in art and literature. The image of Jesus as the Lamb of God reinterprets the Jewish Passover narrative, which describes the angel of death in Egypt passing over Israelite houses marked with the blood of a lamb, killing only the Egyptian first born. Thus, we have the Agnus Dei, “O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us,”[2] a part of Christian liturgies since the early fourth century.[3]

Biblical images and metaphors are often complex and confusing. For example, Biblical authors describe Christians as God's sheep, although they sometimes refer to Jews as sheep, even in the New Testament.[4] New Testament authors similarly describe Jesus as both the Lamb of God and the shepherd, two conflicting images actually found in a single verse in the Revelation of John.[5]…
Read more

Facemasks

-
Image
Facemasks are becoming ubiquitous as people try to avoid catching Covid-19. As anyone who has worn a facemask quickly discovers, the mask traps many of the moist aerosol particles exhaled with every breath. Wearing a non-medical mask may do little to protect the wearer, but offers some measure of protection to persons around the wearer. The more people who wear masks, the more mask wearing is an example of reciprocal altruism in action: I act, not knowing who I may help, trusting others, usually persons unknown to me, to protect me by wearing a mask.Facemasks do hide much of a person’s face, unavoidably diminishing non-verbal communication.Facemasks also seem to diminish whatever propensity people may have to greet verbally persons they pass or see. It is as if wearing a mask creates not only a degree of anonymity but also a barrier that discourages saying hello and other incidental, verbal communication with strangers. This barrier probably represents a lack of trust, a wariness, tow…
Read more

Why won't Trump release his tax returns?

-
President Trump’s refusal to make his tax returns public is intriguing and troubling. The IRS routinely audits Presidential and Congressional tax returns. Yet former Presidents and most members of Congress have made their tax returns public. Possible explanations for Trump’s refusal include: His tax returns may reveal that he is not as wealthy as he would like for people to believe. Many real estate investments are heavily leveraged (i.e., mortgaged), so perhaps his substantial real estate holdings represent a relatively small net worth totaling in the hundreds of millions instead of billions.His tax returns may reveal that he derives a disproportionate share of his income from licensing his name instead of the successful real estate deals about which he boasts.His tax returns may reveal aggressive interpretations of the tax code that trigger repeated audits that are not always resolved in his favor.
If Trump’s tax returns would enhance his public image by showing that he possesses gr…
Read more