Daily Discussion No. 10: Where Do Your Beliefs COME From? Interactive Exercise!
Welcome to another edition of "Daily Discussion," a community engagement initiative I started some months back, designed to stimulate more interaction and engagement on Steemit.
Close-up of red poppy
I suppose many of us have been warned to not talk about certain "controversial" topics like religion, money, politics, family relations and raising children. These are often "hot button" topics that can quickly lead to raised voices, flaring tempers and hurt feelings.
One of the very reasons I largely left Facebook was precisely a lack of cordiality and respect, during the numerous political discussions that went on during the 2016 US Presidental election campaigns. Most people seemed unable and unwilling to discuss, resorting instead to mudslinging and name calling.
And no, I don't care "who started it!"
Objectivity vs Feelings
The trouble, it seems, arises because these subjects are (usually) largely based on beliefs rather than observable facts, or data. And, as human beings, we (ironically) tend to be more attached the the SUBjective (beliefs and opinions) than the OBjective (facts).
Green frog
But I am digressing.
This morning I was reading some profiles and forums back on Ye Olde Book of Farce... and got to thinking about people and their "closely held" beliefs.
And so, I decided I wanted to open "Pandora's Box"-- at least a LITTLE-- by examining the topic of "beliefs."
Now, I'd like to make it perfectly clear that for the purposes of this discussion, I am not limiting this to religious or spiritual beliefs. I'm talking pretty much ALL beliefs, here... because we all believe something-- about politics, patriotism, money management, child care or whatever.
Not WHAT, but WHERE did it Come From?
I'm not going to get out in the messy territory of what you believe and why you believe it... I'm just interested in where your beliefs come from.
Desert flowers
Please read that sentence again; just to make sure you understand what I am truly asking.
For example, maybe you believe in God, maybe you don't. Maybe you're a Catholic, maybe you're a Buddhist, maybe you're Wiccan. I'm not expecting you to "defend" your belief, but instead I want to know how did you arrive at what you believe in? Where did your beliefs come from? Personal study? A family tradition? A life-changing experience? There are LOTS of possibilities!
For example, some people's beliefs are the result of their "having an experience;" they literally "experienced God."
Others hold beliefs because they were taught by their family-- it is what was "handed down" and has always been "in the family."
Grasses in the late sunset
For example, I was born in Denmark, where 85%+ of the population are Lutheran... so it's just "automatically assumed" that you're Lutheran. But actually, I am not-- what I "believe" (or base my life on) is actually an amalgam of dozens of belief systems that have crossed my paths during some 40-some years as an adult.
If you look at political beliefs, sometimes people have them for the purpose of "community," more than anything-- they simply choose to be part of the fellowship of a majority.
Some people's beliefs are uniquely their own; some are almost true carbon copies of a very specific ordained doctrine.
Let's Discuss! There are no right or wrong answers here; also no judgment! But when you sit back and consider what you believe in various areas of your life... where did those beliefs originate? Are those beliefs flexible with potential for change, or are they cast in stone? How do you feel in the presence of beliefs quite different from your own? At peace? Uneasy? Like you need to defend yourself? Something else? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!
To learn more about the Daily Discussion initiative, please visit the Introductory Post for a full description and participation guidelines.
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Created at 180116 19:45 PST
Thanks @denmarkguy,
Much of my Religious beliefs were introduced to me via family tradition. As I got older though, I was really disconnected from it. And begin to read unbiased sources and came to the Conclusion for me at least what seemed to me the most "believable", based on the evidence. So that's what I practice and believe within my own little family now., even though I still question things.( Christian Protestant, Methodist)
My political beliefs are really not based on any family tradition. My mother is a hard core liberal, Democrat and my Dad is a die hard staunch Republican ( go figure as they have been married 62 years this June lol). I kind of have both liberal and conservative values but refuse to formally identify with any Party.
I think recently my political beliefs ( and humanity beliefs as well) have been swayed by my emotions. Particularly the emotion of Empathy. As I have gotten older one of my top tier values is really embracing the 'underdog' and disenfranchised in society. And just really standing by them using my voice whenever I can to support them and trying to encourage those around me to do the same.
Thanks for the thoughtful response @robertandrew!
Much of what I believe-- across the board-- is the result of personal study and observation. Very little was passed along to me; I was not substantially indoctrinated into any particular beliefs. My parents were primarily conservative but in no way religious. Any identification I have with a preset religious or political doctrine is mostly coincidental... but I do tend to believe in "possibilities."
I would say that I am guided by a sort of "selfish altruism;" that is, I seek whatever path seems to be of the greatest benefit to both the "WE" and "ME" at the same time... losely based in a "do no harm" core.
Another great discussion piece. I never thought about beliefs in these terms.
I was raised in an apocalyptic cult religion. My dad's faith was so strong in the religion that growing up he instilled no doubt that the end of the world was coming VERY soon. Of course we know the end of he world did not come and my dad committed suicide a few years ago. This shook me to my core, and I realized beliefs are just beliefs.
The older I get the more I realize I don't know. I feel that this reality is a subset of another larger reality but I don't like to put labels on it. Do these beliefs come to sooth my fear of death? I don't know.
Wow, powerful realization. I think it was science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke who coined the phrase "We surmise, but we do not KNOW. That's why it's called a BELIEF."
Yet, for many "knowing" and "believing" occupy the same space in their minds, hearts and souls.
I am pretty aware that I know almost nothing. Much of my adult life has revolved around becoming at peace with "not-knowing."
I would say I threw out what my parents taught me as soon as I hit 18 and started college. I would say my beliefs come from my education and experience. I spent a lot of my spare time in college reading about every religion I could find and studying sciences. I met people along the way who influenced me with their own "great" ideas. My beliefs are from my own efforts to learn and from the people I've met on my journey through life.
I am very grateful to my parent for (a) teaching me to think for myself and (b) even though they were not aware of it at the time, teaching me the fundamentals of critical thinking.
I have ready a great number of religious and spiritual texts, and "sat at the feet" of an assortment of spiritual teachers and "gurus" and learned many things in the process. Perhaps what I have most learned is that the vast majority of humans are extremely uncomfortable with "not knowing" things... be it the origins of life, or what they are going to have for breakfast. Uncertainty scares us.
I don't believe in believe.
I don't have any.
I have confidence that something will or will not happened to a variable degree of probability based upon past experience and observation.
NOT the same thing.
To which I will say that I admire your adherence to semantic accuracy.
Most people-- even those "without beliefs"-- would for example admit that they "believe" the theory of gravity will hold true today.
Not arguing with you here; you're just a rare individual.
Thank you.
Many of my initial beliefs I learned from my family and the communities in which I interacted (school, church, neighborhood, friends, etc.). I was always a curious kid who read a lot, I loved reading biographies. I need to understand things, so they made sense to me. Eventually, I began tweaking these initial beliefs based on my understanding of the world.
I began tweaking my beliefs thanks to Sister Maggie, a nun who taught religion at the parochial school I attended for a few years. It started when she taught the concept of free will. I thought this is a great thing… but then she made a comment something to the effect that we needed to choose correctly in exercising our free will to get into heaven. This immediately confused me, so up shot my hand. Sister Maggie called on me. I forget my exact question but, it had to do with how can you call it free will if there are major consequences for choosing wrong? And so, it began my questioning things that seemed inconsistent to me. Thankfully, Sister Maggie continued to let me ask questions about what I saw as inconsistencies in the religious doctrine she was teaching. I can picture her in my mind, taking a deep breath and rolling her eyes up, as if to brace herself and tap into a little divine guidance before she called on me. She always ended with saying you just need to have faith. I never asked what I was supposed to have faith in, because in my 13-year-old mind I took it to mean faith in myself to figure it out.
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Wow, much fun! You must be the Dogecoin mascot!
This is a question that has been bugging me for a lot of time. I really appreciate that you wrote this topic without any specific belief in mind.
I think that most of our belief system depends of what is handed down to us by the people that surround us. Since the moment we are born we are taught to believe in a series of values and principles, and I guess that part of them will stick with us, even if we don't really notice. What I've been wondering all these years is whether we are ever really free to finding our own system of beliefs.
I come from a Catholic family. I know you asked us not to explain our own belief, but I'm just making an example, so bear with me :D At some point in my life, I took an interest to philosophy, I started to find attractive the idea of seeing the world by other perspectives, and ever since then I've been trying to break free from any bias, any prejudice and just analyze what I see without any filters. Which, incidentally, is also the answer to your question: I try to see the world using as many points of view as I realistically can.
Moving on: growing up, the catholic way of life, as much as I appreciated the values underneath, started to feel like something extremely fake to me, and I dropped that belief entirely. It forced a point of view on my, and it wasn't one that I had chosen. And honestly, to be catholic you have to believe, have faith, and I felt that it wasn't really my case. And yet, I've been wondering: what if my "atheism", or whatever you want to call it, is but a reaction to the belief system that was imparted to me? What if I was rebelling to what I felt to be an oppression on my parents' side? What if I have met god on my own, one day, while searching for new perspectives? I guess the question is: are we ever free of choosing our own set of beliefs or are we always affected by the choices of those around us, one way or the other?
Thank you for giving us the chance of discussing these matters.