Why Believe Blindly?

Originally Written (May 23, 2006)

Where do we get this double standard of believing from? Many people that I have met, if not all, have this double standard of believing. Blind Faith or Blind Believing could be defined as trusting or believing without a reason or much support. Supported Faith and Supported Believing could be defined as trusting or believing with reason and/or support. Many people live with this double standard for what they hold to or put their faith in. Let me show you what I mean from two points of view.

Most people who grow up in the church go because it is a ritual. When they were growing up mom and dad always took them to church, and now they would feel bad if they did not go. These people believe blindly in the church, I’m not saying this is wrong, but we should not camp in this style of believing. These people turn around and ask the other religions to give reason and support for their beliefs, double standards for beliefs.

On the other hand there is the hedonist who pursues whatever makes them happy. They feel they should be allowed to do whatever they want. Usually this group bends or dismisses moral law. Some people that I have met with this style of thinking, believe whatever someone tells them that has an appeal to the, blind faith. These people turn around and demand religions to give support and reason for their beliefs.

I use to be like the first point of view, I believed because mom and dad said so. Later in Junior High and High School other beliefs started to come my way. Like I said back in “Domestication”, I received mild support for secular beliefs but no support for Christian beliefs. I did not want to hold this double standard for believing. Finally a minister helped get me on my path of getting to supported faith and supported believing.

No longer did I have this double standard of believing. Now whether you are a minister with a PHD or a person of the opposite nature, I ask for support. A Christian author says scripture is important, I say support it. John Piper very excellently supports scripture and many other points in “Desiring God.” A professor that I had in college started to ignore my hand in the air. I would ask, during and outside of class, for support to what he was saying about evolution. Sometimes he would give the same weak support our book gave, that had already been proven unreliable or incorrect.

1 Peter 3:15b-16a NCV “Always be ready to answer everyone who asks you to explain about the hope you have, but answer in a gentle way with respect.” Not only do I try to answer everyone who asks me to explain about the hope I have, but I also try to give others the tools/support for the hope they have. We should not demand support from others and not be able to give support for ourselves.