Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Choice

I've got a habit of debating with atheists once in a while in the comment sections of online news. I'm curious about what makes people tick, what their core thought processes are. My last exchange got to the core of someone's issue. He (or she) declared they had no choice in what they believed, they just believed it. The line of reasoning was "well I think Santa is cool but I can't just choose to believe in him. That doesn't make him real."

My first question was, well, if you think beliefs are something one just has (I guess something we are born with), then why waste all this time trying to convince me my belief in Jesus is wrong?

The main point is choice. Choice is the beginning of human consciousness. Adam and Eve had choice. That is what made them human. Our beliefs are an aspect of our core values. These shape our behavior and influence our thoughts. Everything we do or say, everything we choose (there's that word again) to pay attention to, has to do with our worldview, based on our core beliefs. We may feel like we were born with these beliefs because we obtained them from our families or our environments before we had much awareness of choice. Yet the choice was there. Every second involves a choice.

When I was a baby, and I got dropped, I made a choice to believe that the world was unsafe and I was unbalanced. That choice affected my behavior for years until I recognized it for what it was; a choice that could be changed. I changed my mind, and that took care of a whole host of fears I had dragged around. We do indeed have a choice about what we believe or do not believe, and this is a liberating thing!

Santa Claus is a nice idea I guess, but that person missed the point. This isn't about Santa. This is about examining the result of your core beliefs. Remember, your beliefs shape your behavior. Do you believe that you are alone? Unloved? The only one who "gets it" in a world full of idiots? Do you believe life is random? Meaningless? Okay. Let's follow those beliefs to their logical conclusion in your behavior then. Dr. Phil may say it best: "so, how's that working out for you?"

 Perhaps the idea of being on this earth isn't who "wins" by being the most intellectual. Perhaps smarts have some other facets, like love, joy, peace, perseverance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. (That's not original by the way, that comes from Galatians 5:22-23). Perhaps intellectualism can be another word for pride, which also is a choice. Pride is incompatible with the fruits of the Spirit mentioned earlier. So perhaps, just for one day, try an experiment. Choose to believe something different. Just try it, just to see. Choose to believe we are not alone, that life is not meaningless or random, and that we aren't fatalistically tied into any one belief system. Choose to believe that every single person you meet is your brother and sister and there is something valuable and precious about them, even when they are mostly unloveable. Choose to believe that you are loved, you are loved unconditionally, eternally, and completely. How would that affect your behavior today?