MARS HILL 2
SEARCHING
I can‘t let go of the problem that struck me yesterday. How can faith in Q Anon conspiracy theories and faith in the power of Jesus be so alike, both scientifically unprovable but both with the power to transform lives.
Religion has been with us throughout our time on earth. From the time we have first been human we have strongly felt the presence of one god or another, thousands of gods. And as humans we believe in them with great intensity, unwilling to listen to arguments that the gods don‘t exist because we know for certain they exist without having any physical proof. We don‘t think people who are devoted to a god are nuts. We just say they are very religious and honor them.
So my problem which I keep going round and round on like a broken record is that as long as we‘ve been human we have worshipped gods, around the world thousands of gods, none of which can be objectively demonstrated, but faith in any one of which made people feel more alive and gave meaning and purpose to life. How can this be?
I am beginning to feel that we feel very strongly, have complete faith in, what seem to be me to be projections of what matters the most to us, whether they are conspiracy theories, or stories of religious fundamentalism without any objective proof that these things exist. We have faith in the unseen and the unprovable because it is somehow central to our identity. There is no use arguing with any true believer, anyone with absolute faith. Those of us who have deep religious faith or faith in Donald Trump or believe in conspiracy theories all have a similar faith. The faith is the same, but it can be argued that some things that we have absolute faith in turn out to have feet of clay and others turn out to continue to make us fully alive.
Both demand complete faith. Even when Trump is lying or making up stories or people make up stories about him, the truth doesn’t matter, or rather the provable truth doesn’t matter. The same is true of Jesus who has stories told about him that seem to be impossible like the virgin birth, raising people from the dead, feeding 5000 with a few loaves and fishes, rising from the dead, joining the Father in heaven, heaven itself. None of that can be factually demonstrated. And yet people have complete faith. All of these stories affirm the power of God, the almost magical power, and enhance the story of Jesus.
QAnon conspiracy theories such as the dark state, the pedophile elites in the Democratic Party, the stealing of the election by the Democrats, the looming destruction of the Democratic elites all enhance the fear of the threat of liberalism to the identity of traditional Americans. The issue is not whether the stories are true but whether the threat to traditional American values seems real. In each case the unprovable stories enhance the deep feelings and faith of the believers. Faith almost requires total belief when the facts seem the most sketchy. That is real faith.
So the place to look for the power of either of these beliefs is not in the facts or the possibility or probability of them being true. It is somewhere else. For me it has to be within the feelings of the true believers. But I‘ll puzzle about that tomorrow.
BILLYBABA’S WANDERING 