It seems my last post on Why I gave up Christianity sparked some serious debate. My father, @stan, responded with a post on why he will never give up Christianity and my mother sent me an email titled “Hell and Damnation”. Like I said earlier, my maturing beliefs has made things awkward. I know they love me, and I love them, but these kinds of discussions can come between people.
A thank you to Christians
I would like to thank all of the Christians that are genuinely concerned and who have taken the time to engage in the discussion. I know that your concern about my own beliefs comes from a place of love. Your prayers are appreciated (for those who actually follow through).
I want you all to know that my own posts have love as the foundation. A love for people, a love for God, and a love for the truth. Love is what unites us and if we can keep that perspective then the discussions we have can be productive, non-judgmental, and in alignment with God.
Testing of Faith
One of the outcomes of the discussion was the stance that God is testing our faith. If we fail to believe then we have failed the test.
Everyone who reads the Bible either believes it or doesn’t. This is God’s explicitly stated intent. It’s a filter. You get to filter yourself out by deciding you’d rather invent your own rules and philosophy.
Based upon this position, anyone who never has the opportunity to take the test fails. I simply chose to adopt the fate of everyone who was not exposed to the test. I chose this route because there is no compelling evidence that the test is real.
Choosing what to Believe
Given that everyone agrees that everything boils down to a matter of faith in unprovable assertions, then on what basis should we choose our faith? After all, we all must believe something and we all believe something that is unprovable. What makes one unprovable belief better than another?
I went back and forth on what to believe. It ultimately comes down to utility. What belief empowers or disempowers my life today. What we believe has a profound influence in how we perceive our reality and what actions we take. If you believe everyone is out to get you, then you will adopt paranoid behavior. If you believe no one values what you say, then you will be shy and withdrawn.
Confirmation bias impacts us in profound ways. It means we reinterpret everything we see based upon what we already believe. This in turn changes our perception of reality and ultimately impacts how we act.
If we are aware of confirmation bias and we are aware of a menu of unprovable beliefs then we can adopt a method for choosing what to believe.
Suppose you believe the world is going to end tomorrow. Chances are you wouldn’t be at work today! Suppose you believe you will die at age 24, chances are your mind will cause your body to commit suicide. In each case there was an unprovable and unfalsifiable belief. In each case the belief directly impacted your quality of life.
Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thorn-bushes, or grapes from briers. — Luke 6:44
In the same way, each belief can be judged by its own fruit. Does belief in an external God cause you to take actions that enhance your life? Does belief in the Bible help you make decisions that enhance your life?
There are many subconscious side effects of belief. Your beliefs can and do impact you in ways that are not obvious. They allow you to shift blame and responsibility.
Actions are proof of Faith
Are you willing to act on your faith. Every time you disobey the Bible you are proving by your actions that you don’t really believe it. If there was certainty that sin would yield death, then people would be as likely to sin as they are to jump off a cliff.
What does it mean if you continue to sin? What does it mean if you don’t treat every allegation that something you are doing is sinful seriously? Is your faith real?
What does it mean to believe in Christ and how does one prove they have sufficient belief?
The bible addresses this:
Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good
thing must I do to get eternal life?”
“Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied.
“There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep
the commandments.”
“Which ones?” he inquired.
Jesus replied, “ ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit
adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony,
honor your father and mother,’c and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.”
“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”
Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go,
sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have
treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
When the young man heard this, he went away sad,
because he had great wealth.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard
for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.
again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye
of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
Reading this passage it becomes very clear what anyone who really believes in the bible should do. Jesus basically says it is almost impossible for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God. When the stakes are eternal life vs eternal damnation would anyone who truly believes the bible want to risk failing over something as trivial as your standard of living today?
Every christian I have met has their own rationale on how to interpret this. They are convinced it isn't literal and thus it must be possible to enter the kingdom of heaven while being rich. By today's standards almost everyone in the developed world is rich.
Ultimately what we learn is that Christianity isn't about actual belief, but merely professed belief. People act in ways that are compatible with the bible based upon their real beliefs that are mostly independent from the bible. Why should we choose to believe something espoused by others whose own actions confirm their disbelief?
Labels
For a long time I chose to call myself Christian and simply adopted an interpretation of the Bible that I felt was compatible with what I really believe. This choice allowed me to fit in with existing social circles. I would use words, like “God” and “Spirit” and “Prayer”, that had different meanings to me than to the people who heard them. Even Jesus used this approach when he said “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God that which is God’s”. People hear what they want to hear and see what they want to see.
I decided to abandon these labels because it didn’t feel honest or truthful to me. Who knows, maybe I am the one who passed the test of the bible and properly interpreted the true meaning. Meanwhile everyone else has adopted a wrong interpretation. Unfortunately, debate will not yield any useful outcome when the core axioms are articles of faith.
Conclusion
The difference between me and others is that I attempt to be honest about what I believe and I choose to be intentional. If believing in the integrity of the bible produces the best fruit in your life, then by all means go for it. It is clear that not-believing has born some bitter fruit in my life. Divorce, loss of friends, and distance from family. On the other hand, that fruit could just as easily be blamed on their beliefs. I instead look at fruit that is independent from other people’s beliefs. It is here that I see major improvements in my life.
When faced with a menu of unprovable and unfalsifiable beliefs, I pick the belief that produces the best fruit in my life. If that means believing in magic unicorns, then I will do it!
I can measure and verify fruit and that is all that matters.