my heart with nothin',
someone told me not to cry.
But now that I'm older,
my heart's colder,
and I can see that it's a lie.
Children wake up,
hold your mistake up,
before they turn the summer into dust.
If the children don't grow up,
our bodies get bigger but our hearts get torn up.
We're just a million little gods causin' rain storms turnin' every good thing to
rust.
I guess we'll just have to adjust.
-Arcade Fire
Of all the ideas I've had for blog posts in the past year, another one about “Beliefs” ends up being the one I'm motivated enough to write. I think it's mostly because I hardly see it written or talked about anywhere else. Most people don't want to discuss such matters, for reasons that they also don't want to discuss. While it is not the primary goal of this post, I will touch upon those matters. I realize this is a personal and touchy subject, and if you feel offended by any of what I write, or disagree with it, I hope that you are open to discussing why, rather than simply choosing to believe that I am a jerk.
What does it really mean to believe in something? Well, here are the Webster's definitions of “belief”:
1 : a state or habit of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing
2 : something believed; especially : a tenet or body of tenets held by a group
3 : conviction of the truth of some statement or the reality of some being or phenomenon especially when based on examination of evidence
This probably is in line with what most people think. But whether or not people actually use “belief” in this way is another question. Yet another question, then, is what do people mean when they say that they believe in a particular religion? Do they even know? It seems like a silly question, and it's certainly a bit insulting, but this question has come to my mind recently.
It is my proposition that a large number of individuals have now come to be a part of a religion- and I'm going to stick to Christianity here- primarily as a place that they feel comfortable. Now I don't want this to be confused with an argument that people believe in God just for comfort of it- I am saying that many people in America (and surely elsewhere) are Christians for the comfort of it. These people associate with Christianity as a group whose values they generally agree with, that can serve as a guide in their lives, and that they feel comfortable in. However, they are often inconsistent if asked whether or not they believe in the teachings Christianity. To clarify again, I don't just mean that they don't agree with every single thing that is in The Bible. My claim is that many people don't even truly believe anything that is unique to Christianity. These people simply call themselves Christian over something else because, for the purpose of leading their lives, being a Christian works for them. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with that. What does surprise me is that few people would admit that that's what they're doing. To try and clarify, let me get into some specific accusatory remarks.
Coming from the NorthEast, I encounter a lot of people who say they are Christian, but at the same time are not particularly religious. When asked if they believe in God, they say yes. When asked if they believe that Jesus was the son of God, the savior, or at least a divine prophet, they give one of the following answers:
A) Yes.
B) I'm not sure.
Now, it's my understanding that believing that Jesus was more than just a good person who spread a good message- that he was in some way divine- is essential to believing in Christianity. To put it another way, if you don't believe in the divinity of Jesus then what you do actually believe is probably essentially believed by all religions. And if you're not sure, then you're lacking that “state of trust” or “conviction of truth” that constitutes a belief.
So what of the people who do believe Jesus was divine? Well, their test comes in a follow-up question: Okay, so then you believe that everyone who doesn't believe that Jesus was divine is wrong? If you believe that Christianity is correct, then you believe that anyone who isn't a Christian is wrong, or misguided, or what-have-you, correct?
And yet, I have been surprised to encounter people who will not say that they believe that people of other religions or beliefs are wrong. Their answer, of course, is that they do not feel they are in the position to tell others that their beliefs are wrong. That each person has their own beliefs that work for them, their own connection to God. I have no problem with that, except in that it isn't an answer to my question. I'm not saying you have to tell anyone that they're wrong, I'm saying that if you believe you are right, you simply must believe they are wrong.
Example: Jack believes that Jesus was divine. Jack has trust and confidence that Jesus was divine. Jack feels a conviction of the truth that Jesus was divine. ...Jack does not believe that it is incorrect to say that Jesus was not divine?
Example 2: Jack believes that A is True. Jane believes that A is False. ...Jack does not think Jane is wrong. Jack does not believe that A isn't false, therefore Jack believes that A is False. ...Jack believes that A is True. Jack believes that A is False. Does not compute.
Now I understand if you take issue with this strict use of logic. A person can believe something, but recognize it is not a fact, and therefore not want to say that an alternative is wrong. But if you believe that that something is true, mustn't you believe that the alternative is false?
I suppose the question is whether someone can say that they don't believe someone else is right, but don't necessarily believe they are wrong either. Well, if someone claims that Global Warming isn't real, and you believe that it is... you probably wouldn't have any problem saying that you believe they're wrong. What if someone believes aliens exist and you don't? If you really don't believe that they exist, then you probably will be able to say that you believe the other person is wrong, even if you admit that you don't know it for a fact. In the end it comes down to your degree of certainty. If you're not comfortable saying that you think the person who believes that aliens exist is wrong, then your belief is probably really something like, “I don't think they exist, but I don't know.”
So would some Christians be comfortable saying this? Are you a Christian if you say “I think Jesus was divine, but I don't know.” It sounds as if you are not convinced. So are you still said to have faith? Is that a belief- a trust or confidence that it is true?
My desire isn't to be a accusatory, but my goal is to make people think. I think that if many Christians are pushed on what they really mean when they say they believe something, when the implications of holding their belief are made clear, they may find they do not truly believe it. When you face the idea that to say you believe that your religion is right is also to say that all others are then in some significant way wrong, it may become a bit more difficult to believe in yours.
I believe that thinking about it in this way provides perspective, and to take in a truly open, broad perspective of everything it means to say that you believe in Christianity (or any other religion) on its most fundamental level, is to plant a seed of doubt. And doubt is not something we want to deal with in these matters, so I understand why some individuals would be reluctant to discuss the implications of their beliefs, but I also believe it to be important.
There are further topics I'm tempted to get into here, but will stick with one more quick one. For those who are willing to say that they believe that all non-Christians are wrong, and there are plenty of them, I ask them as well to take the implications of their beliefs to their necessary ends. If it is one's strong belief and conviction that Jesus Christ's teachings were divinely ordained, then surely they must believe in the importance of sympathy, forgiveness, and love. And yet I see many of these individuals with more negative things to say than positive, with irrational anger towards others and unapologetic desires for vengeance, and selfishness. To expect all Christian's to be Christlike is foolish, but to expect them to be making consistent efforts in that general direction is only logical.
To be clear, this isn't meant to rub it in the face of Christians that they are supposed to be playing by the rules they have set out for themselves. But I am encouraging all people of faith to behave as if they truly believe what they say they believe. Much of the rest of this blog has been geared towards encouraging all individuals, regardless of what they do and do not believe, to behave in what is essentially a more Christlike manner.
To reiterate what I said in the beginning, I think there is nothing wrong with attending Christian churches when all you believe is that there's a God, and you aren't sure about Jesus. You can call yourself a Christian even if all you agree with are the moral teachings of the church, and I won't complain. If you like the way any church does things, and it works for you, I am not taking issue. As I have before, I am taking issue with people who claim to believe things but aren't consistent with those beliefs, and I'm encouraging people to figure out what they really do believe. And for the record, I never claimed my writing wasn't pompous.
Finally, there is an underlying message of tolerance in this post for all people of faith. First, that when a person of faith is questioned far enough about their beliefs, they may find that the only beliefs they hold true conviction for are beliefs that are shared by all religions. Second, that if people truly believe all that they say they do, they will value love and forgiveness over intolerance.
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