People everywhere enjoy believing things that they know are not true. It spares them the ordeal of thinking for themselves and taking responsibility for what they know.
Although this harsh characterization certainly does not apply to all people, it does seem to describe many of the people with whom I’ve talked about beliefs. When asked, "Why do you believe what you believe?" the root answer that often rises to the surface is, "I believe in such-and-such because that’s what I want to believe… such-and-such appeals to me, and so I believe it…"
For example, I’ve talked to several people who claim to believe in life-after-death. When asked why, they admit that the thought of death-as-ceasing-to-exist is frightening, and the belief that their soul or spirit floats on to an other-worldly domain is comforting… appealing… nice.
On the other hand, I’ve met a few people who do not pick and choose their beliefs based on appeal… in fact, many of their beliefs require quite unappealing changes in lifestyle. For example, Mr. Paul (my middle school art teacher) held such strong convictions about needless pollution that he didn’t own a car. Instead, he rode his bicycle to school 180 days a year, from West Warwick to West Greenwich and back again (~25 miles), in the rain, snow, and everything in-between. His beliefs were inconvenient for him, uncomfortable at times, even unpopular. And yet he held tightly to them… he took responsibility for what he knew… he knew that it’s wrong to needlessly pollute our planet.
People like Mr. Paul, who hold fast to a conviction no matter how uncomfortable or how unpopular or how inconvenient it may be for them... fascinate me.
Perhaps you’ve met another of these rare people who do not allow casual preference or personal comfort to determine thier beliefs… but instead think for themselves and take responsibility for what they know. If so, perhaps you can share a little about them…
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