Monday, April 24, 2006

In praise of doubt

      Doubt has a bad name in our world. We expect people to be certain in their opinions and beliefs. We might disagree with their certainty, but we still say things like "We respect your position."
      What a bunch of crap. What we don't need in this world is more certainty. We need more doubt.
      Certainty that they're going to get 40 virgins helps fuel suicide bombers.
      Certainty that the world can survive whatever man does to it keeps companies polluting and keeps gasoline hogging SUVs on the road.
      Certainty that we're no different from the animals keeps the abortion clinics full.
      Certainty that homosexuality is unnatural gives people a nice warm, feeling as they beat gays to death.
      Certainty that God never intended for whites and other races to marry keeps us from feeling guilty as we shun them in church and talk privately about "those kind of people."
      Certainty that we're right and everyone else is wrong allows us to talk about "godless liberals" and "lying conservatives" in our blogs.
      Certainty that our denomination is the only path to God allows us to preach against other faiths and even kill their followers if we have to.
      Certainty that oil and natural gas will last forever keeps pushing the problem of diminishing resources onto our children and their children.
      Certainty that the other guy is out to get us gives us permission to get him first and feel justified.
      Certainty that it's better to mind our own business than get involved lets child abusers and molesters continue their destruction of innocence.
      Certainty that we deserve more just because of who we are rather than realizing that "there but for the grace of God go we" keeps people homeless, keeps families in poverty, keeps kids starving, keeps people dying.
      Certainty that we can't change anything, that one person's effort means nothing in the face of the overwhelming problems, makes our recliners feel especially nice as we numb our brains with sex and violence on TV.
      Certainty that old dogs can't learn new tricks means that we stop learning new things, we stop challenging ourselves, and we hang onto society like ticks.
      I don't know about you, but I could do with more doubt in the world. We need more humility and searching, more praying and working, more striving to be better people ourselves instead of rushing around trying to remove the motes from other people's eyes while ignoring the beam in ours.
      Doubt has had a bad name since the days of Thomas, but it needs to be recognized for what it is and what it's meant to be. It's meant to temper us, to give us pause, to make us wonder, to make us search, to make us strive to be better.
      I'm tired of blind, unquestioning faith. I want some sighted, searching faith. I want to shake of the hand of a minister, preacher, deacon, rabbi, guru, school administrator, banker, bishop, representative, senator, president, and feel the calluses that only hard work and hard won faith can bring.
      I doubt I'm going to get any of this, but I'm certain the world needs it.

15 comments:

Gloria Williams said...

Well said and wonderfully written!

Trixie said...

Excellent thought-provoking post. Truth is like a butterfly. If you let it alight in your palm, you can learn. If you squeeze it tight, you wind up with, you know, dead butterfly.

Michelle said...

I agree with Gloria, and with what you wrote. Such passion in the writing and the writer too I am sure. Wish this post could be broadcast nationally. More need to hear it, and so, feel it.

Like the new quote by the way.

Slim said...

Good job, Tech. When you step up to the pulpit, your "preaching" makes better sense than anyone else I've read in the blogsphere.

Anonymous said...

I can't agree with a couple of these, but it is well-written and intelligent. Not that I would expect any less from you! :)

SBB said...

Thank you, Gloria!

SBB said...

Thanks, Trixie!

SBB said...

Thank you and thank you, Michelle. I have new scrollies, too, but I don't think anyone's noticed them yet.

SBB said...

That's my goal, Slim: To get you to listen to preaching! :)

SBB said...

And you shouldn't expect anything less, JK! :) I figured there would be a couple that some might have difficulty with. I bet I could guess the ones that bother you, but they have to be no great surprise to you. You've certainly heard me make those points before.

SBB said...

Well, I like provoking thought, FF. I think ... :)

Mark said...

I am undergoing some personal problems right now, in case you didn’t already know. So I have had little time to visit blogs. I barely have time to post on my own. I just want you to know I still read your logouts if not everyday, at least every other day. Bear with me while I deal with my problems. I will soon be back blogging with passion as I have in the past.

If you visit some of the blogs I also visit, you will see this same comment.

SBB said...

I hope things get better for you soon, Mark.

Erudite Redneck said...

Amen, Tech. Amen.

SBB said...

Thanks for the amens, ER.