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Were You At the Congress?

6/13/2012

 

Were You At the Congress?

In this sharply contested election year political candidates have promised—if elected—to give us $2.50 per gallon gasoline or an unemployment rate as low as 6%, to mention only a few of many campaign assurances. Television viewing is saturated with derogatory advertisements about this or that candidate paid for by super PACs of unknown wealthy donors. Not wishing to be fooled in this pandemonium of voices, who do you believe is telling you the truth?

Along with judging the truthfulness of candidates, we must also deal with competing voices of hundreds of door-to-door salesmen who barge right into our homes through the window—of the television. Their glossy advertisements promising all that the heart desires, like the promises of politicians, can easily deceive us…but no one wants to be a fool!

When wise King Solomon said, “The fool believes everything he is told” (Proverbs 14:15), the world’s fools were traumatized because until that time fools were indistinguishable from the wise. This saying of Solomon’s caused a real crisis for the fools of this earth, and so they convened an International Congress of Fools. Hundreds of thousands of fools from all over the world gathered, and after days of heated deliberation they finally accepted this resolution of the Congress: They would not believe anything! So even to this day, whenever people express their disbelief about some political or religious statement, they can be asked, “Really, were you at the Congress?”

Blind faith is the belief of a fool. An example of this was a man in a religious dispute who said, "God said it. I believe it. That settles it!" Paradoxically, it is possible to practice blind faith and not be a fool! An example is driving on the highway as cars are coming towards you in the opposite lane at high speeds, and you exercise blind faith these drivers aren’t texting, drunk or high on drugs! Without this kind of blind trust, so severe would be your anxiety that you wouldn’t drive out of your garage. In daily life blind faith is sometimes necessary, but not in politics, advertising or religion.
Dan Sanley
6/14/2012 04:27:11 pm

Once again the master challenges us to think. How true it is that in daily life we face many events where we use blind faith. When we go out to lunch, we usually trust that the eating establishment will provide good food and not poison us. However, I would not go so far to apply the same type of faith to politics or advertising and even religion even though it is supposed to be all good. It is religion that challenges my thinking as to if I use blind faith or not. Are we not taught to believe everything the Bible says because it came from God? Isn’t that blind faith and isn’t it required? After considerable thought, I have concluded that if any of us participate in a faith that is blind, that is where we are all trusting and where we do not apply reason to search for evidence, then we do not belong to a religion but rather a cult. Faith without reason is superstition. A true and good religion (including the Bible) demands an evaluation of the evidence presented. I do believe some of the Jewish faiths encourage people to study and challenge claims made in the Bible. That sounds like a good healthy religion to me. When we all go to our place of worship, do we check our brains at the door? However most of us had to have had checked our brains somewhere before putting on a TV, accepting fiction or opinion as reality, including the commercials. Politics is worse. All existing evidence hints that brains were checked permanently by all who and when at that point chose to be a politician or abandon everything for an ideology. Reality (reason) and truth (faith) are the enemies of politicians and idealists. It is only though using our brains to evaluate reason and faith, that we can reach a healthy conclusion; and avoid being the fool.

rRudi Dietrich
8/1/2012 12:58:14 pm

For me the Zen tenets: Great Faith, Great Doubt, Great Determination are pretty good guides. Sometimes we have to do things even if we doubt the outcome. It is our faith and may not be shared in full extent.
But if we have faith, determination in following through (always having in mind nit to harm and in good will, that is all we can do.
As to politicians they are often so entangled and do not even realize it; even think they are doing a good thing. Like a preemptive war. We certainly see the results. Great Doubt in their thinking and ours -- it would help.
But then... I look at myself and my actions....


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