A belief could be simply defined as the acceptance of something as being fact without certain knowledge or proof. Of course, a belief is one person’s or many people’s perception of any circumstance and, to those people, their perception becomes fact. For instance, for thousands of years, the entire civilized world labored under the false belief that the earth was flat—anyone who sailed out too far would simply fall off the edge into oblivion. Later, the early church taught that the earth was supported on five wobbly legs which suspended it above the netherworld below, the home base residence of the devil. People were prohibited from having sex on any elevated structure because the shaking might cause the earth to fall into the netherworld—the penalty for violation of that prohibition was death by fire. In addition, that same church taught, to the point of execution by fire for any dissident, that the earth was the center of the universe—the only universe they could see was the sun, moon, and stars of our Milky Way galaxy. Galileo’s invention of the telescope in 1609 proved them wrong, but they were not dissuade. So certain were they from their interpretation of the bible that the earth was indeed the center, they were hell-bent on burning him to death for his overt heresy—only his friendship with the pope and his public recantation of his scientific discovery saved his hide—he spent the last nine years of his life under house arrest. Then, there was the absolute certain belief in witches—thousands of people were burned to death by the Inquisition because of the certainty they were witches. That process was even continued in the United States by the Protestants—the only difference being here thy were hanged rather than burned.
From the earliest days of recorded history, worldwide, there have been certain beliefs in higher powers or gods. Each god was given a name and each had a certain specialized purpose—some were more powerful than others, Centuries later, the Hebrews began to recognize a singular God—a God who was in control of everything. They could bargain with him but he was always in control. He seemed to be very moody, and at times even morose and vengeful. They believed he needed to be and could be appeased with sacrificial offerings. I never knew how they came to that conclusion because I have been unable to find that demand from God in the Hebrew bible except the story of Abraham willing to sacrifice his son Isaac on God’s orders—I concluded they just dreamed up or imagined that idea. I have often wondered what Abraham or the concocter of that story was chewing, smoking or eating to cause such a psychic aberration. Regardless, the sacrificial rituals which evolved did become a very lucrative tool for the high priest, and a very useful tool of control for the King—they still continue in Christianity.
So with those few examples, it should become clear that we must be very careful about what and whom we believe. As individuals, we cannot possibly know ever thing about everything—we must make decisions about what and whom to believe based on our best evidence or perceptions.. For instance, look at the current rage about the safety and effectiveness of immunization for Covid-19 and its delta variant. Here is where belief becomes entangled with trust. Many people seem to not trust the vaccine for one reason or another which leads them to believe it is not safe. As medical science has developed over the last two hundred years, we have learned to put our trust in its applications. However, each person usually believes that one practitioner or institution is preferable over others. Those preferential beliefs usually are based on hearsay from others or on personal experience or prejudice. Generally speaking, that grants some justification for a belief, but not certainty. We have learned by years of experience to trust or not to trust. Similarly, when we board a commercial airliner, we have sufficient reason to believe we will reach our destination safely because of the known safety record of air travel.
Now, when we consider religion, what do we find?—literally thousands and thousands of different religions professing different beliefs without one iota of certain information or documentation to justify their claim. Each of those religions claim thousands, millions, and even billions of constituents—and no two of any religion’s constituents believe identically—but each declares vehemently that his is the correct set of beliefs. So, basically, we are no better off now than when the earth was not only flat but was also the center of the universe—at least, most were firm in that belief—there was unanimity. Today, the earth is in vicious turmoil mainly because of differences in religious belief. Sounds silly and stupid, and in fact it is, but understandable because not a single person dead or alive has ever definitively described the essence of their God—but I have and I did.
In my little masterpiece, Wilderness Cry, I define God’s essence thus: God is a Perfect Rational Being. That definition says it all—it is irrefutable—nothing can be added or deleted. That definition, when explored, shows concisely how and why all known religion is false and unreliable, because the basic premises of all known religion are false—all are based on a false god—therefore, all must be false. However, they do have many things in common—controlling their constituents with threats from their god—extorting money from their members for their growth—expansion by converting (stealing) other religion’s members—in general, scorning all others—in some cases, overt wars.
By expanding and describing some of God’s attributes, I prove, conclusively, both scientifically and philosophically, how all religion is, not only false, but is the prime cause of most hostility and emotional illness in the entire world.
My most recent book, Provocative Catholic, elaborates on many of the abuses of religion and its adverse effects on society. It describes exactly who Jesus was and what his intentions were. It shows how those intentions were and continue to be distorted and ignored to the detriment of mankind—mainly for power, control and money. In recognizing the magnificent attribute of God’s Perfect Love, it offers an absolute pathway for perfect and permanent peace. Wilderness Cry is a must read—you will then want to read Provocative Catholic. After reading those two books, you may have a curiosity for insights about their author. I believe you will find plenty in my little book. Growing Up In Fancy Farm Kentucky. All are available Amazon-Kindle.
One last reminder—be very careful about what you believe.
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WILDERNESS CRY by Hilary L Hunt MD 