“Examining Truth Systems”
The following is a quote from a
previous blog, "Both sides of the atheism-theism question to some degree
must rely upon unfounded belief. To rely upon one’s unfounded belief is to put
trust in that belief—that is one puts faith in that belief." (Edited for
clarity)
To trust anything or anyone is
to place faith in that person or thing. Take
for example, traversing a bridge.
Even though one may not consciously do so such requires several
expressions of trust (faith). There is trust in
the bridge itself, faith in the engineer that designed it, confidence in the
builder that constructed it, and belief in those who maintainer it.
The point of the previous blog (“Preponderance
of Faith”*) was that beyond the knowable in any truth system, there is an area
of unknowns where faith in that system is necessary. To not acknowledge such to
be true is to tempt the possibility of naiveté or one might say blind faith.
However, there is another matter
to consider. It goes something like
this. If a person has placed confidence
in some truth system, then at what point is it that such a person to make a
choice. Is he willing or unwilling to
interact with the attendant tough question?
It seems to me that among the responses there are five possible to
consider.
DENIAL: At the outset it is not without notice that
there are those who will not acknowledge difficulties and disconnects in truth
system they embrace. Such a person is
either unknowing or unwilling; either directly or tacitly avoids the tough
questions.
That leads then to this. Socrates is supposed to have said, “The
unexamined life is not worth living.” (Quoted in Plato’s Dialogues). Extrapolating the thought yields the following thought, “The unexamined
belief is not worth trusting.”
DECEPTION: Then there is the possibility of being deceived
by error. The greatest of deceptions
comes to those who are not willing to ask and seek the answers to the tough
questions. Once such an attitude is rooted and grows it seems that such an one as holds to this attitude can become ensnared and thus
find escape most difficult.
DOGMATISM: Someone once said, "Dogmatism
kills." That comment would apply to anyone who has prematurely embraced a
particular system without examination. Once
again it is that such a person is not willing to examine their own truth
system. One does not have to have
advanced degrees from leading universities to understand the dangers of
dogmatism.
DISTRACTION: Without such an examination, one of the very
real dangers is that one can simply gloss over such difficulties as exist. Such a
glossing over can limit one’s perspective and thus distract from another truth
system that is much more defensible and thus in greater degree worthy of trust.
DESTRUCTION: The final point is that of so destroying any
and all other truth systems that one has limited his truth options. It can progress to such a degree that the
individual has become blinded to other truth options and in fact proactively
destructive of other ways of thinking. The
debate in which the intelligent design people want their theory taught alongside
the theory of evolution is an example. The
evolutionist as it turns out spares no effort in blocking such attempts.
*available at http://alviesthots.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-preponderance-of-faith.html
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