You know the story of the blind men who came up to an elephant don't you? it helps explain the existential cultural mandate of there being multiple truths. The elephant allowed them to feel her so they could understand what an elephant was like. One fella says elephants are long, thin and flexible like snakes, another argues that they are short fat and straight while another says "no, elephants are large and flat." So there you have it, there are many paths to enlightenment. But hang on. If you are going to use that illustration it assumes you can see the whole elephant, that your truth is superior which of course is in itself the height of arrogance and imperialism.
My point is that there is truth and there are lies and it is beholden of us to determine what that truth is. We can love others by sharing truth because it will it will set them free. You need to know that you have a soul, you have free will, and you have choices. It's an amazing, awe inspiring, potential power for good. You can take an easy path to destruction, bitterness, disillusionment, lies and suicide or the true tough path of struggle, trial, rejection and rejoicing - your call.
Doubt, like faith, has to be learned. It is a skill. But the curious thing about skepticism is that its adherents, ancient and modern, have so often be proselytizers. In reading them, I've often wanted to ask: "Why do you care?". Their skepticism offers no good answer to that question. And I don't have one for myself. Tim Keller Belief in an Age of Scepticism.
No comments:
Post a Comment