Belief does not have one simple definition. For example: I believe my coffee machine will dispense coffee. I believe this with a particular sense of certainty as to make it knowledge. I know my coffee machine will continue to dispense coffee on demand until such time as it wears out, or a component fails. Thats a justified believer based on experience and evidence. If I also believe that my coffee machine sometimes fails to dispense coffee because I call it a bad name occasionally - then thats a different kind of belief. This would suggest that the world and everything in it is concerned with my opinion of it, and has moral expectations of me, which should I fall short will have deliberate and purposeful consequences. I would have no evidence to justify and believe in this other than my own psychology - fears, desires and egotism. ...... and I would seriously consider therapy if I could only stand beside myself and objectively see what this belief actually is - a psychosis. But .... I would never need to disabuse someone of this sort of belief, if as a result of this they harmed no one, abused no one, and gleaned a measure of comfort from it. But .... if they attempt to make me change either my behaviour or my grip on reality, whether by means of the schoolroom or government dictat; or they try to instil a sense of shame and guilt, or threaten to remove my right to vote for not sharing their belief - it is then that their crazy beliefs would not go unchallenged. And unfortunately this is exactly how it has panned out! -Vaughan Stone- [Thank you Jeff Beresford (adapted from).]
Posted on: Sun, 10 Nov 2013 20:17:19 +0000
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