\"There are two ways to slide easily through life,\" \"to believe everything or
ID: 3489614 • Letter: #
Question
"There are two ways to slide easily through life," "to believe everything or to doubt everything. Both ways save us from thinking." Those two paths -- unquestioning belief and unyielding disbelief, fundamentalist faith and radical skepticism -- have for years polarized the debate over religion. In its starkest equation, the polemic pits those who view reason as wholly antithetical to their beliefs, against those whose rationalism leaves no room for the mysteries of faith. But is there some middle ground?
Explanation / Answer
Lack of belief is different from disbelief in many ways and for many philosophers, lack of belief due to lack of evidence is what determines their philosophical approach to life. Agnostics for instance, do not take a stance regarding the existence or non existence of dieties. They therefore tend to have no belief on the subject and lack of belief is understood as disbelief. This misconstrued version of their stance and the two terms are used interchangeably which is highly questionable. Also, whenever there is a contradiction in terms of belief systems, it is always best to rely on premises. One of them may be seeming wrong or less convincing. However, completely negating an argument or seeing an issue as black and white is not always the solution to it. The stance could also be accepting of a possibility of neutral. For instance, completely relying on faith and engaging in superstitious beliefs may lead a person to be led into darkness. However, one also needs to leave room for belief in miracles. After all, there is science behind a lot of documentation that talks about various themes like life after death wherein people have narrated their exact near death experiences. Some scientists now claim that orbs or beings who have left the world always surround us and their consciousness continues to exist. The work of psychotherapists who engage in past life regression therapy speak of encounters with the 'Masters' or dieties to be more precise, whose form wasn't described as much, but the profound experiences stayed and made their impact. Therefore questioning either belief systems would be like probing the unknown. Although counter arguments and questioning belief systems is a way to enhance knowledge through engaging in more fact finding, but room for a possibility of another's belief should also be left. This is to say that we may not know much beyond science and what is well documented in books and scriptures offered to us. Living one's individual journey, the free will to make the choice of following one's own belief system and philosophical orientation to life is something that should be left entirely to them. The middle ground at the same time could consist of reading, creating one's own opinion, forming a belief system based on own perception, yet not demeaning the faith or belief system of another. More acceptance and tolerance for differences is what maintains peace and harmony after all.
Related Questions
Navigate
Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.