Being Wrong

From author Kathryn Schulz in "Being Wrong"

"So we look into our hearts and see objectivity; we look into our minds and see rationality; we look at our beliefs and see reality. ... every one of us confuses our models of the world with the world itself-- not occasionally or accidentally, but necessarily. ..."

When I was in college studying philosophy, I took a course on religion from an atheist. The reasoning for and against believing in God were both unconvincing to me.

My conclusion was that my beliefs were a choice. I wasn't constrained by the idea that my beliefs needed to conform with "capital T truth." That actually made me feel a bit more free. Even if there is a purely objective Truth, I doubt that my mind is capable of knowing It.

In the church doctrine I've been taught to believe in, God reveals His truths to anyone who asks, with one caveat: upon asking, the person must behave in a way that is consistent with the truth they are seeking. Which basically means, you must believe in the truth FIRST and you must ACT as if it is true. HOWEVER, you must also be willing to accept the NON-truth of your idea.

This willingness to accept the non-truth is demonstrated by asking God to reveal truth to you. Of course, this presupposes that you believe that God is real and that He answers prayers. A person could confront that potential difficulty by asking God if God is real.

In traditional academic and religious systems, asking this question (is God real) is problematic. Blah blah blah, there's something here about what the problems are.

In Mormonism, God has given a specific formula to follow to know if He is real: read the Book of Mormon, learn the principles of the doctrine of Jesus Christ, and pray to know if THAT is true. Additionally, a person may learn about Joseph Smith, who, by the power of God, translated the Book of Mormon. Upon learning about Mr. Smith and his translation, a person may pray to know if Joseph Smith was telling the truth about his experiences. Of course, the best way to know if Joseph Smith was truthful about his experiences is to read the book he claims to have translated.

Now back to Ms. Schulz. I believe my beliefs are true NECESSARILY. This is perfectly consistent with the experiences I've written here dealing with knowing if God is real.

What about my belief in God? I decided that, if rationality wasn't helping me decide what to believe, how would I decide? I went with what I WANTED to believe, based on what I thought would be the best answer, and the answer most likely to get me to the Truth (capital T). So I'm not disinterested in the outcome. I really want to know truth. Philosophy failed to help me get closer to Truth, so I returned to God. Because the God I believe in promised that I *could* know it, He gave me a formula for how to find truth, and I saw results when I acted on those ideas.