Belief as Cop Out
Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2021 1:58 pm
I have always admired philosophers and mystics because they are willing to do the hard work of pursuing the difficult questions. Most of us are unwilling to do so, although we remain happy to opine on issues that we have invested comparatively little or invested poorly in pursuing. Over time, I have particularly come to hate the words "belief" and "believe." My sense of the connotation of these words is that they are extremely weak and fuzzily subjective. "I believe" is a way of saying "I have an opinion on this subject, but I don't care enough to do the hard work of figuring this stuff out."
Now, words in themselves are neutral, but their use over time evolves, and how we individually react to words depends very much on where we are in our own personal journeys. So, I will speak for myself. Others are likely to react differently to these words (belief, believe) and that is OK with me. They certainly don't require my permission. My point of view on this reflects my experience as a former LDS person, and as someone living in the corporatist-consumer culture of today. Belief, to me, sounds like the intellectual equivalent of a consumer preference. It sounds like the declaration of a team player or tribe member.
While I might care why you prefer this brand over that one--and this is not to my credit--I don't know why I should care what you "believe." The word is used too much, and it isn't clear to me what force it should have or indeed does have in any given situation. Our language is too muddled at this point, and "belief" as such has little value to me anymore.
I do respect experience, including personal experience. If someone says they had a personal experience that leads them to a particular view or course of action, then I appreciate them telling me so. It does take more effort, and this is perhaps one reason why we are more likely to hear or read, "I believe," but I can respect and I do expect that people, motivated by their experiences, will choose one course of action as opposed to another.
I respect speculation. We can speculate on things and even follow those reasonable speculations down a particular path, not knowing for certain whether we are correct or how things will turn out. As limited and finite creatures with humble faculties of mind and sense, we can't apprehend it all and we can't know for a certainty everything we would ideally want to know and be certain about. We will have to do our best, so let's just accept that.
There was once a time when I thought saying "I know" in a testimony was a really terrible thing. How can people "know"? How do they "know the Church is true"? What does that even mean? What I think it means now is that people have cumulative positive experiences that they credit to the LDS Church. At the time, however, I thought it would be much more honest of me to say "I believe." Some of you may be able to resonate with that stage of wrestling with your spiritual lives. Now, I can't say that I have much patience for either expression.
My position now is that we do not and are not going to know a lot of things for certain, and so we would be better off honestly acknowledging that fact. When someone says, "I know . . . ," my skepticism is immediately engaged. When they say, "I believe . . . ," I am very tempted to respond with the question, "Who cares?" Tell me about your thoughts and your experience, but please do not tell me about your knowledge and belief regarding the big questions of reality and existence.
At the same time, one has to take into account the social value and function of these statements, and that is where I think the truth of them may reside. People assert knowledge and belief so that they can enjoy the community of those who share their knowledge and belief. Knowledge and belief in the big questions are evidence of a willingness to invest in something that is deemed important but is, at the same time and in many ways, an imponderable or insoluble issue. Where will this community go? Is the community good? Will it protect me and nourish me?
We can't "know," but if we are unwilling to signal our commitment to invest in the community by making these declarations, then we are not good prospects for belonging in the community. This is one reason why the more adamant, vocal, and fanatical members tend to find themselves at the core of a community. If assertions of these kinds are necessary to belong truly, then tripling down on them, or, more precisely, becoming a virtuoso in making such assertions, makes you a real pillar of the community.
My error is to have such an aversion to these declarations that I flee them and the communities that make these demands. The secret is that they all do. We cannot escape community demands that we toe the party line and join others in asserting things one cannot know for a fact. To say we know, and perhaps to believe it truly, or at least make the right gestures and statements, is the required commitment.
Now, words in themselves are neutral, but their use over time evolves, and how we individually react to words depends very much on where we are in our own personal journeys. So, I will speak for myself. Others are likely to react differently to these words (belief, believe) and that is OK with me. They certainly don't require my permission. My point of view on this reflects my experience as a former LDS person, and as someone living in the corporatist-consumer culture of today. Belief, to me, sounds like the intellectual equivalent of a consumer preference. It sounds like the declaration of a team player or tribe member.
While I might care why you prefer this brand over that one--and this is not to my credit--I don't know why I should care what you "believe." The word is used too much, and it isn't clear to me what force it should have or indeed does have in any given situation. Our language is too muddled at this point, and "belief" as such has little value to me anymore.
I do respect experience, including personal experience. If someone says they had a personal experience that leads them to a particular view or course of action, then I appreciate them telling me so. It does take more effort, and this is perhaps one reason why we are more likely to hear or read, "I believe," but I can respect and I do expect that people, motivated by their experiences, will choose one course of action as opposed to another.
I respect speculation. We can speculate on things and even follow those reasonable speculations down a particular path, not knowing for certain whether we are correct or how things will turn out. As limited and finite creatures with humble faculties of mind and sense, we can't apprehend it all and we can't know for a certainty everything we would ideally want to know and be certain about. We will have to do our best, so let's just accept that.
There was once a time when I thought saying "I know" in a testimony was a really terrible thing. How can people "know"? How do they "know the Church is true"? What does that even mean? What I think it means now is that people have cumulative positive experiences that they credit to the LDS Church. At the time, however, I thought it would be much more honest of me to say "I believe." Some of you may be able to resonate with that stage of wrestling with your spiritual lives. Now, I can't say that I have much patience for either expression.
My position now is that we do not and are not going to know a lot of things for certain, and so we would be better off honestly acknowledging that fact. When someone says, "I know . . . ," my skepticism is immediately engaged. When they say, "I believe . . . ," I am very tempted to respond with the question, "Who cares?" Tell me about your thoughts and your experience, but please do not tell me about your knowledge and belief regarding the big questions of reality and existence.
At the same time, one has to take into account the social value and function of these statements, and that is where I think the truth of them may reside. People assert knowledge and belief so that they can enjoy the community of those who share their knowledge and belief. Knowledge and belief in the big questions are evidence of a willingness to invest in something that is deemed important but is, at the same time and in many ways, an imponderable or insoluble issue. Where will this community go? Is the community good? Will it protect me and nourish me?
We can't "know," but if we are unwilling to signal our commitment to invest in the community by making these declarations, then we are not good prospects for belonging in the community. This is one reason why the more adamant, vocal, and fanatical members tend to find themselves at the core of a community. If assertions of these kinds are necessary to belong truly, then tripling down on them, or, more precisely, becoming a virtuoso in making such assertions, makes you a real pillar of the community.
My error is to have such an aversion to these declarations that I flee them and the communities that make these demands. The secret is that they all do. We cannot escape community demands that we toe the party line and join others in asserting things one cannot know for a fact. To say we know, and perhaps to believe it truly, or at least make the right gestures and statements, is the required commitment.