Sometimes Being “Right” is Beside the Point: Thoughts About Religious Certainty

 

I had a good exchange on Facebook with Eric Schansberg. I tend to disagree with him more than I agree with him, but this sort of exchange was a reminder to keep talking with people with different world views — particularly those who are smart, friendly, and of good-will. (I frequently get people commenting on the diversity of views in my Facebook threads, leading me to believe that this is unusual and that folks have retreated into their bubbles to a greater extent than maybe I appreciate.)

Anyway, the exchange that prompted this blog post had to do with an article about the phenomenon of atheists reading the Bible like a fundamentalist. It’s not necessarily uncommon for atheists to take the most literal interpretation of the Bible and demand that Christians defend an apparent contradiction. This prompted me to chime in:

I think much of it has to do with the fundamentalists being some of the loudest voices the atheists hear — just as the atheists who want to play “gotcha” with Bible passages are some of the loudest voices that Christians hear.

When more nuanced Christians are talking to more nuanced atheists, their religious differences tend not to be very important to the conversation.

Eric allowed as how he didn’t care for loud, dogmatic fundamentalists regardless of whether they were championing the cause of atheism, Islam, Christianity, or whatever. And he mentioned that his reaction to such folks varied based on the level of their self-righteousness, their pretensions of intelligence, volume, smugness, etc. Then he asked about my thoughts on the matter. This seemed like an easy question, and when I started writing, I expected a one line response was coming out of my keyboard. Instead, it grew a little more thoughtful, and seemed like a decent basis for this blog post.

I don’t care for dogmatic fundamentalism regardless of the underlying source because the emotional underpinnings mostly seem to come from a bad place. The ferocious certainty some people have about things that are unknown and possibly unknowable isn’t based on a desire for understanding. Instead, they seem to want to use that certainty as a cudgel with which to beat people they perceive as being outside their particular tribe. But I guess it’s not just being certain — it’s that certainty combined with a need to loudly hurl your beliefs against others. There is no problem with a person who is steadfast in his or her faith but is comfortable that others believe differently.

I’m sure I’ve played “gotcha” Biblical games with others in the past. I viewed it as an intellectual exercise or a fun debating game. Hopefully it was with people who were also enjoying the mental gymnastics. But, ultimately, that approach is pointless. As I get older, the more I appreciate that there is tremendous value in anything that helps people find joy and meaning in the world. Whether it is objectively true or not is almost beside the point.

If I didn’t happen to like a particular kind of art or music, I’d still be a bad person if I insisted on telling someone who did like those things that they were wrong — or that the artist who most spoke to them wasn’t correctly following the rules of that particular art form. If their love of those things makes them a happier or better person, that fact in itself should make me appreciate the art or the music even if it never speaks to me directly.

But I’m afraid that this view was not one I held as strongly when I was young. Being “right” seemed much more urgent back then. The passions of youth, I guess.