Belief and where it comes from.

In every field except religion, we demand that people have good reasons for what they believe. In every field except religion, if it becomes clear that evidence is nothing more than a conviction something is true, or if good coherent reasons for believing or the belief cannot be confirmed with evidence, their claims are quickly exposed and discredited. If we used the same standards for truth in religion as we do in other matters, we would not have Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity or Islam.

Edmund Way Teale who wrote, “Circle of Seasons” said this, “It is morally as bad not to care whether a thing is true or not, so long as it makes you feel good, as it is not to care how you got your money as long as you have it”.

In my view, leading your children or grandchildren into a church where you know propositions are being put forth that are untrue is also morally wrong. When we fill children’s heads with unfalsifiable claims it’s nigh impossible to pry them loose by the time they have reached the age when they can begin to use reason, logic and critical thinking skills on their own. Only recently I came across the writing of Ruth Hurmence Green (“The Born Again Skeptics Guide to the Bible”) She wrote, “I am now convinced that children should not be subjected to the frightfulness of the Christian religion….If the concept of a father who plots to have his own son put to death is presented to children as beautiful and worthy of society’s admiration, what types of human behavior can be presented to them as reprehensible”?

It seems to me one thing all religions have in common is they all have a hard time getting their head around the idea that other religions really believe all the nonsense they claim to believe.

I can tell you they really do! Why else would otherwise rational men fly an airplane into a building at 400 mph unless they really believed this would get them a ticket to heaven where 72 virgins would be waiting for them in an unbelievably luxurious palace situated between two rivers flowing with milk and honey? These otherwise sane men really believed they were actually acting rationally. Ask yourself; if you really believed, as they did, that flying an airplane into a building to kill the enemy would get you and your loved ones a ticket to eternal bliss, wouldn’t you do it? Of course you would if you really believed it. And so would I. These men simply acted rationally based on their belief system. The reason so many people have died before, on and after 9-11 is that men have acted on beliefs rather than knowledge.

Ask yourself one more question. What is the chance these men would have flown those airplanes into the World Trade Center if they had been born to Baptist parents in Alabama or Kentucky? If your answer is slim to none then ask yourself one more question.

Is the circumstance of your birth good enough reason to believe your religion is true?