By Dan Retzer (aka Danny Ray)
For Deists, a familiarity with the term axiom is very helpful. An axiom is defined as “a self-evident or universally recognized truth.”
Similar to Socrates’ statement “the unexamined life is not worth living”- the unexamined faith is also not worth having. Personally it’s been very emotionally painful, yet ultimately very fulfilling as I’ve looked at my own orchard of thought and chopped down many a cherished axiom which in retrospect I should not have even allowed to germinate. For years I have watered and cultivated many an unreasonable idea. A Mark Twain quote succinctly describes this lifelong self-examination process -“I must studiously and faithfully unlearn a great many things I have somehow absorbed.”
Unfortunately in drinking from the fountain of knowledge, almost everyone’s glass contains a twist of confirmational bias. The human tendency is to ignore evidence which refutes our beliefs and cling to those that do. We commonly build a foundation of seemingly self-evident axioms to support our belief structures which maybe personally satisfying, but in the end, become surprised to find our personal beliefs are actually not universally held axioms. For example, many a dialogue toward deism with Christian friends involving the axiom of the Bible as the inerrant “Word of God”, takes an interesting turn when informed Thomas Jefferson took his penknife to the scriptures.
The well-meaning Deist who envisions a better World, should be ruthless in terms of self-examination, but needs to be gentle and have sympathy in debunking others. Perhaps a more fitting approach to the axioms of others would involve nibbling or whittling? To avoid entrenchment in the battle of beliefs, allowing self-application of the final coup de grâce to an axiom is best. To emphasis the positive attributes of deism is better than pointing out the cracks in our fellow human’s foundations of hope. Be aware that religious apologetics is an emotionally laden process of biased rationalization for believing unbelievable axioms. Deists are not immune to bias. In reference to the Twain quote, unlearning is harder than learning. It’s apropos to not hesitate to apply the axe to our unfounded axioms. Stay sharp!
For Deists, a familiarity with the term axiom is very helpful. An axiom is defined as “a self-evident or universally recognized truth.”
Similar to Socrates’ statement “the unexamined life is not worth living”- the unexamined faith is also not worth having. Personally it’s been very emotionally painful, yet ultimately very fulfilling as I’ve looked at my own orchard of thought and chopped down many a cherished axiom which in retrospect I should not have even allowed to germinate. For years I have watered and cultivated many an unreasonable idea. A Mark Twain quote succinctly describes this lifelong self-examination process -“I must studiously and faithfully unlearn a great many things I have somehow absorbed.”
Unfortunately in drinking from the fountain of knowledge, almost everyone’s glass contains a twist of confirmational bias. The human tendency is to ignore evidence which refutes our beliefs and cling to those that do. We commonly build a foundation of seemingly self-evident axioms to support our belief structures which maybe personally satisfying, but in the end, become surprised to find our personal beliefs are actually not universally held axioms. For example, many a dialogue toward deism with Christian friends involving the axiom of the Bible as the inerrant “Word of God”, takes an interesting turn when informed Thomas Jefferson took his penknife to the scriptures.
The well-meaning Deist who envisions a better World, should be ruthless in terms of self-examination, but needs to be gentle and have sympathy in debunking others. Perhaps a more fitting approach to the axioms of others would involve nibbling or whittling? To avoid entrenchment in the battle of beliefs, allowing self-application of the final coup de grâce to an axiom is best. To emphasis the positive attributes of deism is better than pointing out the cracks in our fellow human’s foundations of hope. Be aware that religious apologetics is an emotionally laden process of biased rationalization for believing unbelievable axioms. Deists are not immune to bias. In reference to the Twain quote, unlearning is harder than learning. It’s apropos to not hesitate to apply the axe to our unfounded axioms. Stay sharp!
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