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Background of Belief
Many of us float through life accepting what comes along without taking a
questioning attitude towards the reasonableness or truthfulness of what we
believe. This method of progressing,
obviously, is acceptable to the great majority of the world’s population.
If you grow up in the western developed countries, chances are that you
will be some kind of Christian. If
you grow up in the Middle East, your beliefs will probably center on Islam or
Judaism. In the orient the vast
majority of believers accept some form of Buddhism combined with elements of
Confucianism or Shintoism. In India
and neighboring countries Hinduism and Islam are the popular beliefs.
Sprinkled into all of these areas are those with deist, agnostic,
pantheistic and atheistic beliefs or combinations of all of the above.
It is probable that members of every church, synagogue, mosque or temple
have a great variety of beliefs that vary from the strict interpretation of the
scriptures to the loose combinations of beliefs that question various aspects of
their group’s dogma. It is normal
and useful for families, cities and countries to have the continuity of a common
belief system that helps to support governmental policies and societal
restraints. The danger to this
common system of governmental and societal progress is the possibility of
conflict with groups outside of their belief system or with freethinking
individuals within the system. We
have several thousand years of history to witness the troubles caused by
conflicting belief systems or the oppression of individuals within the group.
This writing is not an attempt to subvert religious belief but rather to
provide ideas, concepts and information that may be useful in the conduct of our
daily lives. Without doubt the great
religions of mankind have had a humanizing influence on people throughout
history. That is the good part.
Fanatical religious adherents throughout history have also caused grief,
oppression and death to those who disagree with their beliefs.
This unfortunate circumstance continues to the present day.
The development of an independent, unique belief system is a long term,
complicated process that is sometimes filled with pain and alienation.
To set yourself free from the concepts of your parents and your early
training and the common beliefs of the society in which you live can be a
daunting experience. Not everyone is
going to want to do this. Most
people are satisfied to go along with whatever has been handed down to them over
the years. However, hopefully within
any given group there are those individuals who look at things differently and
this may have the effect of moderating extreme beliefs and actions of the group
as a whole.
The construction of a belief system is like the cook who has a dozen or
so dishes stewing on his stove at the same time.
He doesn’t have recipes for his dishes so he is constantly seasoning
this dish or that dish to see if he can make it better.
Occasionally he goes overboard and has to throw some dish out.
From time to time he serves up his dishes only to find them lacking or
imperfect in one way or another. He
is never finished with this process because the seasonings keep changing and the
tastes of his clients are so varied. So
he keeps on cooking. So it is with
developing a belief system. With
science, sociology, psychology, parapsychology, medicine and history all
becoming more developed, it is not safe or reasonable to say “this is the
unchanging truth”. You set
yourself up for pain and disillusionment or you must stick your head in the sand
until your time is up. Better to
grab on to those concepts that have stood up to scientific inquiry and
reasonable logic as the basic groundwork of your belief, realizing of course,
that strong evidence may come along that questions that groundwork.
There are many factors that come into consideration in the construction
of a belief system. Four factors are
of prime importance; they are as follows:
A broad, continuing knowledge and interest in history.
Familiarity with science as it relates to human development.
An ongoing striving to seek logical, consistent and reasonable
conclusions.
Desire and nerve to think independently.
The
historical factor is probably the most critical in examining belief.
While
these essays do not aspire to a philosophical treatise, Neither are they just
common opinion. The intention is to
examine some of the latest scientific developments and to explore ways of
including these developments within a reasoned framework of belief without
totally abandoning traditional religious institutions.
It is folly for religious believers to reject the progress of science and
history. It is an equal folly to
ignore the values and accomplishments of organized religions.
It is of critical importance for communities and countries to maintain an
open inquiring approach to problem solving.
It is in this way that we can continue to make progress for a better
world.
I have written these essays to give confidence and encouragement to those
who might choose to develop a belief that runs counter, in at least some
respects, to the great religions that have developed in societies around the
world. This writing is not meant to
disprove anyone’s religious belief but rather to examine beliefs in general
and attempt to give substance and reason to whatever a person believes.
It is true that whenever a belief is closely examined for reasonableness,
historical accuracy, and personal motivation, that specific belief may be put in
a questioning category. That
questioning attitude is a worthy goal.
There is the opinion of some that the truth of our reality is unknowable
and the most sensible approach is to assume as truth those beliefs that were
handed down through the generations. This
procedure gives stability and continuity to society but it also locks out
information and truth from outside that specific group.
It is at this point that converging truths clash with often disastrous
results. Herein lies the rationale
for the examination of belief. If
one group thinks its concept is the ultimate truth and are willing to fight for
it and another group thinks they have the ultimate truth and is willing to die
for it, they both need to step back and examine what they believe.
One or the other is wrong or they both are wrong.
If everyone in the world knew the ultimate truth of reality, one of the
most dangerous reasons for bloodshed would be eliminated.
However, there are other reasons for fighting.
We are all part of nature and our survival has resulted from some pretty
harsh experiences through the centuries.
The prophets, philosophers, and religious figures from the past grappled
with the meaning of life and death, immortality and creation and developed what
they considered to be the truth of these concepts.
Present day philosophers, religious thinkers and scientists of all types
are still grappling with these same issues.
Present day thinkers, however, have the huge advantage over the past due
to those scientific discoveries or development by such scientists as Copernicus,
Galileo, Newton, Darwin, Einstein and others.
Also the development of the Gutenberg press in the fifteenth century
started the process of easy communication which has expanded to present day
computers which interconnect the world in instant communication.
Ideas and theories can now make the world’s rounds at the speed of
light. Also, present day psychology
examines the broad range of behaviors and beliefs of people and animals and
makes its contribution to an ever increasing body of knowledge and research
concerning what life is all about. A
would-be philosopher or prophet now days would have to have a pretty good plan
or he/she would get shot to pieces (not literally) from all sides.
A person can become bewildered with all the possible theories and
religions currently available for consideration.
Actually it is a big plus to be able to examine the various beliefs and
theories and not be subjected to some potentially harmful superstition.
History has shown us that religion, of whatever variety, cannot be the
only basis for the governing of a society or the development of individuals
within that society. Religions have
much to offer a society in terms of morality, ethics and the conduct of ordinary
living. Trouble starts when a
religion gains control of the power of the governing body.
The problems in the Middle East, Ireland, India and elsewhere all have a
religious component complicating the situation.
When a group of people begin to believe that they have the God-given
version of the truth, look out, this will be the beginning of oppression.
The development of a durable, flexible alternative belief system can be
achieved that doesn’t subscribe to the questionable doctrines of various
religions or the seemingly baseless superstitions that have always plagued
mankind. We Homo sapiens have
entirely too much imagination which when combined with fear and gullibility can
produce some really dangerous results.
Back in the colonial days in our country the Salem Witch Trials are the
perfect example of fear, gullibility and religion running amok.
The Trials proceedings were held in 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts Bay
Colony and led to the hanging of 19 suspected witches and the imprisonment of
many others. It all started in May
with the accusations by a few young girls against women in the community.
A special court was convened and the trials quickly grew into mass
hysteria implicating even the governor’s wife.
By October, community leaders cast doubt on the evidence and the special
court was dissolved and the imprisoned were pardoned.
Eventually indemnities were paid to the families of those killed.
Of the three presiding judges, only Samuel Sewall admitted error in a
public statement.
Hopefully, institutions in the developed world of today would not allow
such a process as the Salem Witch Trials to occur.
Small fanatic groups will always pose a threat to those around them or to
themselves. We as individuals may
assume that we are immune to the fanatic swing of emotion laden movements but I
rather think that it is our institutions that keep us from getting caught up in
some groundless, far out venture. Few
of us have the confidence, independence and resolve to stand firm in a highly
charged situation when those around us are all going in a different direction.
We moderns may think that we have developed to such an extent that we are
beyond being sucked into some radical situation but too many examples to the
contrary have occurred to justify this confidence.
It is our institutions that keep us from going off the deep end.
Of course, there are always those individuals who have the strength of
their convictions and are not easily led down some false path.
Religions throughout the centuries have provided mankind with different
views of reality and guidelines for thinking and conducting our lives.
With the growth of the sciences and communication these past five or six
hundred years new and competing views of reality have emerged.
While we might think that scientific advances that have undergone
extensive verification would immediately have an effect on the views of reality
of the general populace, such is not the case.
Certainly, members of the scientific community and that segment of the
population that is tuned into the advances in science are likely to alter their
views in a relatively short time, but the general populace probably will require
a generation or two. What we are
taught as a child becomes almost indelibly imprinted on our minds, especially if
that imprinting was done in an organized manner which included ceremonies and
quasi mystical procedures. We become
like a fish hooked on a line, no matter how furiously we wiggle, that line
seldom breaks.
During our developing years as an individual the usual procedure is for
parents to inculcate or at least introduce their children to one religion or
another. Some families go heavy into
this training while many skim across the surface.
A small percentage enter into the humanist movement which subscribes to a
variety of concepts from philosophy, science and religion.
The Unitarian Universalist Church as described elsewhere in these essays
is the institution designed for people who have not found a regular religion to
their liking. The Unitarian Church
has written general outlines describing their approach to the serious issues
concerning belief, family concerns and the needs of society but they don’t
have required beliefs or dogma. People
with beliefs that don’t fall into the pattern of organized religion can find a
home in this church. There also are those families which neither attend a
religious service or concern themselves with an organized approach to this
subject.
An unfortunate result for those people who do not subscribe to an
organized religion is the assumption by much of society that the person without
a religious affiliation does not have serious, well founded beliefs.
One of my purposes in writing this book is to organize the already
developing body of beliefs and concepts that are increasingly finding acceptance
among our educated populace and to present these beliefs in a flexible package
that can easily be subscribed to and identified.
This package will feature a framework with three defined criterion for
considering any pertinent information, historical or current.
The package will include a first category to be called “Verifiable
Beliefs”. Within this belief
category will be the laws of physics and evolutionary biology..
Other information may be added when it meets the test of verifiability.
The second category “Unverifiable but valuable information”.
This category will be the catchall for religious views, social documents
and movements, unproven scientific research, unexplained phenomena and etc.
In this category a person can have access for consideration of all
knowledge without limitation. Category
three is to be termed “Inconsequential” and will include information that
lacks verifiability, consistency and reasonableness.
A critical aspect of these categories is that they are open to alteration
This package will also contain those aspects associated with belief and
life in general that will add strength and breadth to the belief system.
When a person sets himself outside the usual beliefs of those of the
society around him, he will need the support and concurrence of thoughtful
documents, appropriate art and music, biographies and an ongoing connection with
like minded people on a personal basis and on the Internet. Many religious
people do not consider alternate beliefs as within the realm of acceptable
thinking but when a person with alternate beliefs has a definite system that
includes those aspects of morality and ethics that make for a valuable member of
society, I think the opinions of those around him will change.
