What is belief?
What is God to you? What is religion? Or, let's make it more general: what's belief?
After a long while of absence from church, i finally stepped back into a sanctuary of worship and praise where i could once again wash myself with the elevation of being in the presence of everlasting faith. After countless (mainly because i don't count) times of being invited to FGT by a friend, finally i found a time to be able to reciprocate the relentless invitations presented upon me. Though, i find the best part of returning ourselves to sanctuary where we may place our faith in a freedom of expression and have others to share it with, is the sense of community and brotherhood that one gains from the unifying forces that govern each and every meeting.
I know, at least 80% of the world's population believes in one of the many Gods that exist in the world; and that at least half of the world's population has a religion; and that in order to be a human being you have to have a belief system - be it aethist, religious of anything in between. But why does it have to be that way? Can't we live life just as we are? Why do we have to make up some things, or set certain principles to govern our actions and at the same time also encompass our peers/followers/relatives/family into it as well?
Premise 1:
Rene Descartes: "Cogito ergo sum".
Translation: I think, therefore I am.
This is one proposition that I am making. Have you ever imagined how a robot thinks? As in, how does artificial intelligence think? Or does it think at all? In the early days, and even up till now, artificial intelligence has been founded on the relations of cause-effect interactions. Whenever a stimulus was presented to a robot, it would act in the way that it was programmed to perform. However, is that really the way that humans would interact with our surroundings? I believe not. If all we did was just a bunch of cause-effect interactions, i think that we would be repeating everything over and over again because once the cycle is initiated, it won't stop looping until something else that is outside the loop comes in. But that is not the case at all! Humans may be habitual beings, but everyday is definitely a different experience. Therefore, if robots were to really think like humans do, they would not only repeat, but strive to improve their everyday interactions and adapt to the every-changing surroundings.
One change is age. As humans age, we think differently and this leads to a different set of beliefs as well. So what is a belief system? And what does it have to do with self-recognition? According to the self-recognition theory, we exist because we think; and that thinking is uniquely defined by individualistic thought patterns. In a way, it does make sense. Let's assume that the whole world, everyone looked the same, walked the same way and had the same behavior. Basically, everyone was a copy of everyone and nobody was any different from the other, except in their thinking. If two people did the same things, thought the same things, acted the same way, wouldn't they be the same person? But if they thought in different ways, it would trigger them to react in different ways, learn differently, basically do everything differently. Even twins, who share the same physique, behave and think differently. Thus, they are different individuals and not copies of the same person. So, instead of cancelling out each other, you'd be two different people and thus achieve self-recognition.
Then, what's a belief system? Why do we have them? I think, it's not for self-recognition but it's for others to recognize us. In other words, it's a sort of identity search or building. What sort of identity or person do you wish to be? I think, belief systems exist because of the variety of "common thought" among people. It's just like the notion of common sense. Common sense in one country is different from common sense in another country. That sense creates the identity of the community and ultimately leading to a belief system that would sustain the most dominant of interests there. No belief system can meet every individual's needs, and that's why there is such thing as devotion. There will definitely be times when you feel that your life brings forth a challenge that you either follow strictly your belief that might result in your demise; or you go against your belief and get away with the benefit of the doubt. But sometimes, it's just not so easy.
Premise 2:
A excerp from one of Daniel Goleman's books: "The communion of a group is like a stirr of emotions that brings forth the experience of elevation."
What is elevation? For those who have not heard of it, it is the feeling of a sudden rush of emotions that rushes through you when you experience something that brings you that sense of awe and utter satisfaction. Do you know those movies that are extremely meaningful? After you watch them you get this feeling that rushes through you, it makes you feel good and you can't help but smile or break into tears - that's elevation.
Belief systems, although they are varied and different from culture to culture, bring practitioners the sense of elevation. This occurs especially when there is a group that has the same belief comes together and shares among its members the meaningful moments of carrying out important tasks stated within their belief. It's just like those testimonies you hear on the radio, when someone showed such altruism to sacrifice his or her life for another person; or stories of great people like Mother Teresa who was so devoted in her aid for others. That sense of elevation that beliefs bring their followers is greatly satisfactory and addictive. I think, that everyone needs to attain that sense of elevation and it is a common need among all of us to seek it.
Conclusion:
Have you ever asked yourself if what you believe in, is really what you are doing? How do you propose to go with your life if you are not carrying out what you believe? This is one of the pitfalls that everyone must go through at a certain part of their lives. At one point, you will start to try and count what is reality and what is just a dream. Then, doubts will start to fill your mind about the things that you believe in and the things that you have done in your past. But, i think i share everyone's opinion when i say that if we persevere to achieve something, the end result is truly to find yourself - somewhere you belong and who you are. Perhaps it is another way, as in you want to build yourself into someone you dream of. But that may change across time as you learn and go through the thick and thin of life.
I think, in the end, one cannot see or measure one's belief by how they pray or the words they read or the way they eat. It is just too naive to look at someone and try to point out that they are Christian, Muslim or Jewish. It's like people who go to church on sunday, but still do bad deeds on every other day. It has come to a point where you can no longer use labels of belief and religion to determine a person.
In essence, the most accurate distinction of belief is:
Who you are.
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