What is Truth?
I had a chat with a Muslim guy the other day. He was very nice - friendly, engaging, passionate. He was raised as a Catholic but converted to Islam because it made more sense to him. He firmly believes that Islam is the truth, and that this will become evident to anyone who earnestly seeks truth and asks God for guidance.
This is troubling for me. The Mormon missionaries I met the recently are also certain of their beliefs, and are certain that any sincere and humble seeker will come to see the truth of their beliefs. A great many Christians believe the same thing about their beliefs. The same is true for many Atheists, many Muslims, and presumably many people of nearly any other religion. I imagine there are even Agnostics who believe that any honest, thinking person will eventually become an Agnostic. (Of course there are people within each religion who disagree.)
Most of the confident religious people I've talked to (I mean confident that they're right and everyone can know it) are not particularly troubled by this. Sure, they know that lots of people from all religious camps are just as confident, but their own reasons for confidence are so great that they can't really imagine being mistaken. I don't fault them for this, nor do I consider myself somehow beyond this elevation of personal experience over that of others. But seeing this, I can't help but be discouraged about my quest. I feel like I may be able to find some place I fit in the religious world, but to find truth? That is beyond any of us.
This whole concept isn't really new to me, but sometimes I like to forget it. To know truth is a hard dream to let go.
Post a Comment
8 comments:
"but to find truth? That is beyond any of us."
I think I agree. Truth is beyond us. We can get little pieces of truth, but never the whole thing. Thinking that one has the whole truth seems rather naive to me.
this troubles me.
it troubles me that everyone (including myself) feels that they are right and everyone else should agree with them. This central fact of life seems to put us all beyond help. I mean, if all of us think we're right, if there is anything that IS in fact right, the chances of most of us, or any of us for that matter, actually being RIGHT is very very slim.
yes, this bothers me
Ya it's annoying to not be sure of anything...
I guess for myself, I find I have to accept things as truth, even though I may not have overwhelming evidence in my mind. I accept the Bible as truth, for example, but would have a hard time proving it to another. Sometimes we have to "pick a side", as it were, and get on with living. I'd rather focus on doing what I'm reasonably sure is "good" instead of waiting to be sure.
(I'm not accusing you of complacency or not-good-doing, please don't get that impression.)
why don't you try baha'i joel? its (it's?) a wild ride that lets (let's? -just kidding) you believe it all and even take your pick of favorite one that fits you best... i think.
Jens: you're right that ultimately we just need to pick a set of beliefs (I don't like the word "side"). I suppose what I'm doing is considering my options before making a commitment. I don't fault those who've made their choice (or who never needed to make one), even if they can't help thinking they're right. Unless they're jerks about it.
Anny: I'll likely look into baha'i at some point. I think they have a group at my university, so they shouldn't be hard to find.
but if you are doing the choosing of what is truth, does that mean that the truth resides in you? if truth exists doesn't it have to exist outside of us?
Yes, if truth (in the conventional sense) exists, it must exist outside of me. That's the whole point. We can never choose truth, only what we will believe is true. Believing doesn't make it so.
Jacob, I agree that truth must exist outside of myself, but if it exists it doesn't matter if I believe it or not. If it is truth it will stand alone, independent of my belief in it.
Yes.
Post a Comment