SLUH Junior Theology Course '07-'08
Faith and Morality...
By Kevin Casey
Web Assign 6: Speaking of Faith~
“A History of Doubt” Summary
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On May 3, 2007, Krista Tippett, host of the radio broadcast Speaking of Faith, interviewed historian and poet Jennifer Michael Hechton her views on the history of doubt. Hecht’s foremost point seems to be that only in recent times has doubt come to be seen as simply a complete rejection of faith. Hecht believes that from the early Greek philosophers to the end of the Enlightenment era, doubt was an enlivening force, a defining quality of intellect. Doubters were not equated with outright rejections of beliefs or theologies, but often articulated positive philosophies. They were not against religions but just did not think there was such a “being” that created, guides, and judges the world.
For the most part, such doubters originated into three main groups. First were the Cynics . Diogenes of Sinope, one of the first Cynics, demonstrated somewhat of a “go with the flow” attitude and laidback lifestyle. He encouraged his followers to act naturally in public without shame. In his view, gods (whether there were any or not–it didn’t matter) did not need humans for anything and remained outside a person’s daily life. This being the case, why should mortals spend time worshipping them? A reading of Diogenes that I personally got a kick out of goes as follows:
"One day, Alexander the Great visited Diogenes. Alexander was Diogenes's biggest fan and had dropped by to pay his respects. At the end of the visit, Diogenes asked Alexander what his plans were. Alexander answered that he planned to conquer and subjugate Greece. Then what? Diogenes asked. Alexander said that he planned to conquer and subjugate Asia Minor. And then? Alexander said that he planned to conquer and subjugate the world.
Diogenes, who was not easily dissuaded from a line of inquiry, posed the question again: What next? Alexander the Great told Diogenes that after all that conquering and subjugating, he planned to relax and enjoy himself. Diogenes responded: Why not save yourself a lot of trouble by relaxing and enjoying yourself now?"
The other two philosophical schools of thought include the Skeptics and the Epicureans. Although skeptic belief leans toward the fact that humans can never know the real truth, skeptics examined all ideas and beliefs closely. Epicureans, based on the teachings of Epicurus, argued that one can both virtuous and happy in this world, with the only three obstacles to happiness being the fear of death, the fear of pain, and the fear of gods.
This being the case, humans could think of moralities in their own relative ways. Such an idea was not a rejection of religious moralities; rather, those moralities were still definitely viable according to the doubters because, if they did not come from a god, then they still obviously developed from the human minds–which was accepted and encouraged.
The biggest different between the doubters’ and the believers’ views on how to live a good and proper life is simply that doubters do not believe that there is a higher “being” taking care of everything. Most doubters, in their own ways, wanted the creation of rituals and stressed the communal ideal. They recognized the force, or feeling, that one can derive from certain experiences, such as celebrating an occasion with a large group. Although they dismissed religion, doubters did not dismiss the magical and mysterious quality of the human existence.
Hecht also suggested that doubt, in grappling with religious questions to find other answers, has been a defining force in the history of most religions. For instance, Christianity was the first monotheistic religion to come about after “doubt” had been firmly established (mainly through the Greeks) through both philosophy and literature. Yet Christians embraced doubt, choosing to believe in a God that is not entirely provable, and took a leap of faith. And it is this leap that is vital to the beliefs of Christians. A powerful example of this can be seen through Jesus last words before dying on the cross:
"My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?"
This quote, which can be found in Matthew 27 or Mark 15 portrays a touching instance where Jesus, God's only son and God himself, voices his own doubt. Yet he never lost Faith in what God was calling him to do.
Finally Hecht emphasized that doubt is anything but an undignified stance, especially since even the doubters that decide they do not believe in God recognize that there is always the possibility of one such “being” (the nonexistence of a god is not provable. For example: there is absolutely no way to know EITHER way through fact whether or not there is an afterlife) and subsequently continue to question the world.
Hecht's overall point, in my opinion, seems to be that it is entirely okay and even healthy for one to have doubt. As long as the doubters recognize that the doubts themselves could be wrong, it is simply another intellectual way to look at things.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton demonstrates the positives of doubting in a passage she wrote after meeting a free-thinking doubter of the era, Lucretia Motts:
"I found in this new friend a woman emancipating from all faith in man-made creed. Nothing was too sacred for her to question. It seemed to me like meeting a being from some larger planet to find a woman who dared to question the opinions of popes, kings, senates, parliaments, recognizing no higher authority than the judgment of a pure-minded, educated woman. When I first heard from the lips of Lucretia Mott that I had the same right to think for myself that Luther, Calvin and John Knox had, and the same right to be guided by my own convictions and would no doubt live a higher, happier life than if guided by theirs, I felt at once a newborn sense of dignity and freedom. It was like suddenly coming into the rays of the noonday sun after wandering with a rush light in the caves of the earth."
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For in intellectual doubting, it seems we as humans truly discover. And if we treat these discoveries with humility and genuine reflection, we will allow ourselves to be open to God...
Links
Back to My Junior Theology Homepage
Listen to Hecht's Interview on Speaking of Faith
Take Hecht's "Scale of Doubt" Quiz (My own score deemed me a "believer.")
Krista Tippett's "Celebrating Doubt" Journal Entry
Hecht's Biography
Have some questions or suggestions? Email me at irishbooscoop@charter.net