“As God is the savior of all and the redeemer of the earth. He must be glorified…”
Religion requires followers to trust the authority of the church, and in doing so the authority of God. In Judaic religions, doubt is a punishable offense.
“I say unto you, to doubt is a sin. Who are we to question God?”
Doubt is a sin, blasphemy in many cases which was punishable by death. It seems Christians believe that God does wants us to doubt, but only certain things. Oh, maybe we can doubt things like, let’s say, global warming, but we can’t doubt the oil companies because God has put the oil there for our use and the oil companies are simply doing the work of God. Maybe that’s how it works, I don’t know. Doubt is that double-take, the curiosity that tells us that perhaps what we are told, or what we think, is not true and then forces us to reconsider or to honesty research. This doesn’t bode well for religious belief. Doubt is more than curiosity, however. Doubt is an active decision to question one’s own beliefs, and/or what we are told is true. There it is!
“Pray for the sinner’s soul! He is lost in the darkness of doubt.”
In many societies, doubt is looked upon dubiously as being disrespectful and dangerous. How dare we doubt the words of the President of the United States! He is, after all, the authority of our great nation. But that is not the problem. The problem, religiously speaking is that we doubt at all, and especially that we doubt an authority that...
“That must not be doubted in any case! Are you questioning me? SINNER!!”
What would happen if it were allowable to doubt all authority: political, academic, and even… religious authority? God forbid...
But, he did. The doubting Thomas, and the skeptic are looked upon as outcasts and derelicts that disregard social norms and accepted doctrines. But it is not the social norms and accepted doctrines that are important. No, it is the fact that we allow ourselves to doubt. Think if social norms were doubted… Well, things like slavery disappeared.
“But that is not the point. Doubting the virtue and righteousness of one’s own society is just not right.”
Of course, the doubter must ask why, but then the doubter does not blindly accept authority simply because it might be dangerous. Doubt is dangerous, but not doubting is outright deadly. “Mr. Doubter there can’t get a job! See what happens when you doubt!”
Doubt undermines the foundation of society (the power that unquestioned authority has). Doubt undermines the moral fiber of our country (and causes us to reconsider some national decision-making and makers). Doubt brings danger to everyone it comes into contact with (especially the children that are now (after meeting the doubter) much harder to brainwash with religious tripe).
Doubt is an active decision to question, which leaves open the possibility to disbelieve or discredit the thing or idea that is questioned.
“Holy Crap! That sounds dangerous!”
The only thing that is worse than not doubting is the false pretensions of doubting. I can hear the preachers now.
“God wants you to doubt! Yes. I said it. Doubt will lead you to the truth that God has to offer you. We are all prodigal sons…”
To doubt, however, is more than just philosophical masturbation. Doubt is an active adjustment of previously accepted ideas, if not a complete disavowal of them. Thomas Kuhn, in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, went so far as to claim that doubt could bring down scientific claims within a normative paradigm.
“But he’s probably in hell now.”
No, such doubt could never be allowed. Rather..
“Think of what God has done in your life, and allow yourself to ponder (to doubt if you will) how things would have been without God. Think! Think about it now!!”
“Now, if global warming is indeed a fact then we have no business interfering with the work of God. See what happened when we doubted that it was actually the moral choice to let women suffer during childbirth! All hell broke loose! Now the sleazy bitches want equal rights!”
If we doubt authority, it might be dangerous, but the option of not doubting is not really an option. When someone doubts something, what is being doubted is information and/or ethical motivations. Doubt will lead to the demand for justification.
“He said ethical…this can’t be good!”
If I doubt that gravity exists, I am doubting the theory of gravity and all that is entailed within it.
“He said it: he doubts gravity! He’s crazy!!”
If I doubt the priest, I doubt what the priest says.
“Atheist! ATHEIST!!! Burn in HELL!”
If I believed that my government was acting dishonestly, I would be doubting both information and moral agenda.
“He is a commi-bastard! Pray, pray for our lives!”
To accept, blindly, information or a moral code, is to step blindly into an abyss of stupidity. The religious follower, if they have faith in their religion, ought not (a value-claim) be opposed to doubting their faith nor their religion.
“See! SEE!! He is calling religious people stupid and wants to tear apart the faith of GOD! Repent! REPENT!! HE IS THE ANTI-CHRIST!!!”
It is healthy, mentally and physically, to be wary of anything or anybody that tells us that doubt is dangerous, unpatriotic, sinful, or unethical. The person whom doubt is an enemy to is either dogmatic or dishonest, probably both. It is the duty of us all to doubt because to doubt is to give chance to change in one’s life, to growth and a broader perspective in life and on the world around us. Surety is false security, whereas doubt is the double-take that delivers.
“Repent you sinners, re…pent….”