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What To Believe And Why
Down through the centuries mankind has adopted a vast array of beliefs that vary from the sublime to the most basic superstitions.
Individuals and societies that entertain a certain belief obviously think that they have the truth or they wouldn’t believe it.
Before the development of the sciences there were all sorts of beliefs relating to animals and the natural environment.
There are still societies that consider some animals as sacred.
Few societies now believe in the gods of the sun, thunder, spring, fertility and other natural phenomena but these beliefs were common within our written histories.
There is an interesting book titled Death and the Afterlife by James R. Lewis, published by the Visible Ink Press.
It is an encyclopedia of death and the afterlife.
It is a very interesting book that will give the reader a broad view of what people have believed in the past and in many cases still believe.
It is organized by alphabetical subject matter and I would like to give you the index of just (A) through (D) so that you may get the scope of this book.
(A)
Adventism
AIDS
Akashic Records
Alchemy
American Indian Messianic Religions
Anatta
Ancestor Worship
Angel of Death
Angels
Animal Reincarnation
Apocalypse
Apotheosis
Apparition
Aquarian Foundation
Thomas Aquinas
Architecture
Ascension
Association for Past Life Research and
Therapies
Astral Projection
Astrology and Reincarnation
Atman
Aura
(B)
Baha”i
Arthur J. Balfour
Baptists
Bhagavad Gita
Bible
Birds
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky
Boat Symbols
Hieronymus Bosch
Bridge Symbols
Buddhism
Burial
(C)
Cathars
Edgar Cayce
Cerberus
Channeling
Character
Charon
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Church of Metaphysical Christianity
Collective Unconscious
Communication with the Dead
Conscious Dying
Control
William Jackson Crawford
Sir William Crookes
Cross-Correspondences
Cryonic Suspension
Cult of Dionysus
(D)
Dante Alighieri
Andrew Jackson Davis
Day of the Dead
Death
Death Dreams
Death Symbolism
Deathbed Visions
Defibrillator
Deja Entendu
Deja Vu
Demons and Devils
Descent in the Underworld
Dianetics
Direct Voice
Discarnate Entity
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
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Under each additional alphabetical letter is a like listing.
How do we decide which is the truth, or has some truth?
Do we simply take what is handed down to us?
We are lucky in this 21st century to have developed sciences that have taken some of the terror and superstition out of our lives.
Certainly science doesn’t have all the answers but at least we now have an organized way of examining our world and our attitudes and beliefs.
Coupled with science in the examination of belief is the questioning attitude of treating beliefs to the test of reasonableness and consistency.
If you don’t use science, reasonableness and consistency, you then leave yourself open to any wild belief that comes along.
Reasonableness by its self is not enough to guarantee objectivity.
One era’s reasonableness is another era’s nonsense.
We may think that in our advanced civilization that we are immune to bizarre beliefs and actions but we frequently hear of individuals or groups believing some off-the-wall leader.
History is full of such doings.
The problem with developing a belief is that we don’t have clear evidence of the true nature of our existence.
Those troublesome philosophical questions, good and evil, eternal life, god or no god, power of prayer, creation, evolution and etc. are still very much on the table for consideration.
Does the existence of 1,869,751,000 Christians mean that the truth lies here?
How about the 1,014,372,000 Moslems that are convinced that they have the truth and are willing to die for it?
Are the 334,002,000 Buddhists over in the orient way off the track?
And then there are the 18,153,000 Jews and the 751,360,000 Hindus and the agnostics, deists and atheists.
Numbers of adherents don’t define the truth.
Little by little through the centuries mankind is filtering out the unfounded and unreasonableness of many beliefs.
While we don’t have the definitive truth of our existence, we are at least making progress in that direction.
We may never know the ultimate truth of our existence but that remains to be seen.
Belief is indeed a tricky business unless you are just looking for a comfortable and seemingly safe way to settle the issue.
