A question often asked by non-believers is “Why do you believe a book with so many contradictions, absurdities and trivial nonsense?“ However, this question is assuming that one cannot believe such things-when in truth, these things actually foster faith, not diminish it.
I will address each in turn, and what role in particular they partake in fostering faith.
I. Contradictions
Ask any believer and he will say that contradictions are one of the following-
a. non existent
b. taken out of context
c. due to translation errors
d. the result of us “not understanding God’s will/our inability to comprehend a being such as God.”
This particular posts deals with a. and d., the outright denial of contradictions and the belief that the human mind cannot understand a being such as God.
The former (d.) is of course, owing solely to outright denial of obvious facts. The great holy books are literally peppered with contradictions-from the trivial to the truly earth shattering. Only the willingly blind could deny they exist, as evident by the fact that non-believers can easily spot them with minimal effort. In order to deny such a critical issue requires a great deal of faith-using your emotions rather than your logic. As a result, even the most logical and well developed argument against these contradictions toward even the most intelligent believer will accomplish nothing when he denies their very existence. Faith is in many ways less about what you can’t see and more about what you won’t see.
The latter is a more powerful and first responder more or less to the issue of dealing with contradictions. Denial is not even necessary when one refuses to think about it because he believes that God is far wiser than himself and hence, always right. Denial at least requires some thought, whereas assuming that thought isn’t even possible on this issue nips the problem in the bud. There is no reason to think or worry about the contradictions-God knows all and he makes them consistent. There is no way you could ever understand a being like God, so don’t even bother trying-just have faith that he knows all and wants the best for you.
II. Absurdities
This is not a universal attribute to the fostering of faith. The stories of creation for instance, if taken literally are obviously absurd. More astute believers see these as analogies. However, as children and even some adults go, absurdity is a powerful energizer of faith, and it is these two groups who are my focus. While many analogies are absurdities, not all absurdities are analogies in regards to religion. It is the latter group of absurdities-those not attached to any analogy-that are my focus, as even a non-believer can draw wisdom and inspiration from some of the analogies and parables contained within a holy book.
Absurdity is loosely connected to the issue raised above (I, d.), wherein the logical mind cannot explain how such a thing is done. When there is no logical reason why such a thing is a certain way, the mind begins to shut off and stop thinking about it-but rather, simply believe it is the cause of a higher power. It is assumed that the creator of all laws can break them at a whim but beyond that no thought as to how such a thing can happen occurs or is even possible. Faith begins to step in where logic is impossible.
III. Trivial Nonsense
I once said that if you want to hide the truth, bury it in triviality and boring rambling. Sadly, it is still a habit of many intellectuals to hyper-articulate what they write, and spend five paragraphs explaining what a single sentence could have managed easily. Credulity is based not only on wanting a thing to be so, but also in not wanting to pursue it further. Trivial nonsense and passages that don’t teach anything but yet persist not only adds to an already long holy book, it also builds onto the image of holiness for the holy book that has all the answers must be long. It has been my experience that the greatest philosophers-the most brilliant men of any age have been able to express themselves in few words, whereas hiding something in plain sight is easy when it is intermixed with an array of pointless and hyper-articulate passages.
Put another way, Jargon is perhaps a sufficient example of this. Your doctor explains something to you in such a way that leaves you thoroughly confused and intimidated, so you just nod your head and agree. In another example, a person with a specialized interest rambles on (I hope I’m not seen as such a person!) and others agree with him without much thought-either because they assume he knows more than they do.
People want an answer-they don’t necessarily want to understand it. I argue a bit deeper however, and say that we can only believe what we do not truly understand, and by making a holy book impossible to truly understand, belief is the only resort. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but you’re probably right.”
When we sufficiently understand something, we often move on to something else. So long as we do not understand something but are rather rewarded for trusting it anyway, we tend to hold on all the more.
I will address each in turn, and what role in particular they partake in fostering faith.
I. Contradictions
Ask any believer and he will say that contradictions are one of the following-
a. non existent
b. taken out of context
c. due to translation errors
d. the result of us “not understanding God’s will/our inability to comprehend a being such as God.”
This particular posts deals with a. and d., the outright denial of contradictions and the belief that the human mind cannot understand a being such as God.
The former (d.) is of course, owing solely to outright denial of obvious facts. The great holy books are literally peppered with contradictions-from the trivial to the truly earth shattering. Only the willingly blind could deny they exist, as evident by the fact that non-believers can easily spot them with minimal effort. In order to deny such a critical issue requires a great deal of faith-using your emotions rather than your logic. As a result, even the most logical and well developed argument against these contradictions toward even the most intelligent believer will accomplish nothing when he denies their very existence. Faith is in many ways less about what you can’t see and more about what you won’t see.
The latter is a more powerful and first responder more or less to the issue of dealing with contradictions. Denial is not even necessary when one refuses to think about it because he believes that God is far wiser than himself and hence, always right. Denial at least requires some thought, whereas assuming that thought isn’t even possible on this issue nips the problem in the bud. There is no reason to think or worry about the contradictions-God knows all and he makes them consistent. There is no way you could ever understand a being like God, so don’t even bother trying-just have faith that he knows all and wants the best for you.
II. Absurdities
This is not a universal attribute to the fostering of faith. The stories of creation for instance, if taken literally are obviously absurd. More astute believers see these as analogies. However, as children and even some adults go, absurdity is a powerful energizer of faith, and it is these two groups who are my focus. While many analogies are absurdities, not all absurdities are analogies in regards to religion. It is the latter group of absurdities-those not attached to any analogy-that are my focus, as even a non-believer can draw wisdom and inspiration from some of the analogies and parables contained within a holy book.
Absurdity is loosely connected to the issue raised above (I, d.), wherein the logical mind cannot explain how such a thing is done. When there is no logical reason why such a thing is a certain way, the mind begins to shut off and stop thinking about it-but rather, simply believe it is the cause of a higher power. It is assumed that the creator of all laws can break them at a whim but beyond that no thought as to how such a thing can happen occurs or is even possible. Faith begins to step in where logic is impossible.
III. Trivial Nonsense
I once said that if you want to hide the truth, bury it in triviality and boring rambling. Sadly, it is still a habit of many intellectuals to hyper-articulate what they write, and spend five paragraphs explaining what a single sentence could have managed easily. Credulity is based not only on wanting a thing to be so, but also in not wanting to pursue it further. Trivial nonsense and passages that don’t teach anything but yet persist not only adds to an already long holy book, it also builds onto the image of holiness for the holy book that has all the answers must be long. It has been my experience that the greatest philosophers-the most brilliant men of any age have been able to express themselves in few words, whereas hiding something in plain sight is easy when it is intermixed with an array of pointless and hyper-articulate passages.
Put another way, Jargon is perhaps a sufficient example of this. Your doctor explains something to you in such a way that leaves you thoroughly confused and intimidated, so you just nod your head and agree. In another example, a person with a specialized interest rambles on (I hope I’m not seen as such a person!) and others agree with him without much thought-either because they assume he knows more than they do.
People want an answer-they don’t necessarily want to understand it. I argue a bit deeper however, and say that we can only believe what we do not truly understand, and by making a holy book impossible to truly understand, belief is the only resort. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but you’re probably right.”
When we sufficiently understand something, we often move on to something else. So long as we do not understand something but are rather rewarded for trusting it anyway, we tend to hold on all the more.
“In the middle of the road of my life I awoke in the dark wood where the true way was wholly lost”
ReplyDeleteDante Alighieri
Don't read too much into it.
Dante just came to mind for some reason.