Full disclosure time. I grew up in a household with parents who had two completely different religious affiliations. One was Catholic and the other, an obscure offshoot of Seventh Day Adventism. One believed that the earth was created 6,000 years ago (or to be more precise, that there was a global catastrophe leaving no survivors, and a re-creation), and one was open to God using evolution to accomplish his purposes. One believed in Sola Scriptura, that the bible alone was the authority in one's life, and one believed in Church authority. One fervently believed in not eating "unclean" (non-kosher) foods, and one really liked sausage with his meatballs.
Needless to say, I did not grow up with any kind of religious certainty. Then I went to college and had even more questions.
There are many, many people who grow up with certainty in their lives. Whether that be religious certainty, having two parents who belong to the same church denomination, or one parent who belongs and the other who goes along with it for the children's sake, or whether that be scientific certainty, with two parents of no religious affiliation who instill in their children a deep appreciation for knowledge and morals that don't have to come from a belief in a higher power, or what-have-you. Certainty can be a very good thing. It can also lead to not questioning or not being open to other perspectives, depending on how one is raised.
Coming from a divided background does tend to instill a greater respect for other viewpoints, but the lack of certainty can also cause other problems that cannot be glossed over lightly.
Full disclosure time. My parents eventually divorced, and religious differences did play a big part in that.
But let's look at the question I mentioned last time. Does belief in God automatically exclude fully accepting other sources of truth?
One of my parents would say, absolutely yes. If science says the earth is older than 6,000 years, science has to be wrong. One of my parents would say, maybe not, but that would depend on what particular source of truth he happened to be comfortable with.
It's so easy to say, if one source of truth is right, then another source of truth, especially if it contradicts the first, has to be wrong. That's very common with different religions, denominations, or sects, but it can also be true of different scientific views.
Even so, we're all familiar with the old tale of the blind men and the elephant. Each is convinced that their perception is accurate, and therefore any different perspective has to be wrong. But maybe, just maybe, there's a bigger picture.
Granted, not all religious or scientific differences can be resolved simply by saying, maybe there's a bigger picture. But in many cases, there IS a bigger picture.
The universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose. -- J. B. S. Haldane
How can simply saying, there's a bigger picture, resolve some of the most complicated issues we face today? Whether that be the reality of climate change, the severe political and racial polarization of America, abortion, homosexuality, transgenderism, gun control, whether America should be involved in foreign wars, whether intelligent design should be taught in schools, or any number if issues on which we're deeply divided. Granted, simply saying that isn't going to matter to a sizable enough percentage of people that we'll still be divided, no matter what.
But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't try. And that doesn't mean that we can't look at the fallout of being divided, and ask if we really want to keep getting those same results.
Every time we make someone else wrong for their beliefs, we close a door of opportunity. There will always be disagreements and differences, but the opportunity I'm talking about doesn't have to do with changing someone's opinion.
It has to do with living in harmony, despite differences, and it also has to do with learning from something outside one's own comfort zone.
Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate...leads to suffering. -- Yoda
We fear what we don't understand. What's outside the realm of our own experience, or what we may have experienced differently.
Some -- typically those who come from families who encourage trying new things, or whose families are in the habit of trying different things, meeting different people, or leading an expansive life -- may not have anywhere near as much fear as those who come from families who were punitive, who had financial hardship, or who told their children what they couldn't do as opposed to what they could.
Family circumstances have a lot to do with how much we come from fear, rather than hope, or curiosity, or optimism, or compassion. Those same family circumstances tend to be a great predictor of whether a person will hold to conservative or liberal views, too.
But let's look at the results. The more we come from fear, the less opportunities we have in life, whether financial, educational, relationship-wise, or in any other way. The more we come from fear, the more sickness we have (especially mental, but even physical!). The more we come from fear, the more life sucks.
Is that really what we want out of life? Probably not, right?
So, even with the idea of looking at something from a different perspective, there's a much bigger picture!
Let's assume for the moment that believing in one source of truth doesn't automatically exclude accepting another source of truth. Where does that get us, and what do we do when we inevitably end up with conflicts and disagreements?
Next time, let's take one specific example and use this approach. We'll start with the hot-button topic of climate change, since it's actually far easier to unravel than a lot of the other controversial issues I mentioned before.
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