In a comment on
Monday's post, I made the following offer, which I repeat here in the hope that a willing believer (or nonbeliever) will see it and would like to take me up on it:
Anyone, believer or non-believer, who would like to share what you believe (or don't believe), you are invited to do so in a comment here. And tell us what's in it for you, if you'd like to try to put that into words.
Another way of asking "what's in it for you" might be:
What is it about your beliefs or nonbeliefs that makes your life better?
It's misguided to ask "What's in it for you?" about one's core beliefs. One does not choose to believe or not believe for the same reason that one buys 100 shares of B of A stock. In fact, one does not choose.
ReplyDeleteEveryone develops a more or less coherent story of existence — religion, good and bad, politics, where we fit in the cosmos — that knits together the influences of their parents, their peers, their culture, and their perceptions as their genetic predispositions allow. The story is not chosen, it just develops. Because the parts of it are internally consistent, we don't go mad, and we can have manageable lives. This doesn't mean that the story won't "flip" when contradictions come along. The time for flipping is usually in adolescence. A flipping episode is viewed as a crisis, and its resolution is rightly seen as critical. It can have to do with one's faith, but it can be about other core beliefs as well, as Biff Loman will tell you.
In the end, there is an unconscious benefit in developing a story. It is conferred whether the story includes faith or disbelief. We get to function in the world.