Believe

Question everything. Believe it or not, that came from a religious education teacher. When he first said it, I was in shock. Shouldn't this guy be teaching faith? And isn't faith the opposite of questioning? But what he said nest hit so close to home, I haven't forgotten it in the four years since he said it.

The teacher started by asking us if what we believed in was important. We agreed. He asked if we would defend out beliefs if challenged. Again, we agreed. Then he asked why we believed, and how we came upon our beliefs, and most importantly: how we justified them. We were stumped. Most of us heard our parents' voices in out heads. A couple students were able to respond with "because I do" or "because it makes sense", but no one really had a reason. The teacher smiled and repeated, "Question everything." Then he explained: "if you don't question your beliefs, what will you do when someone else questions them? If your beliefs can't withstand your questioning, how can they withstand anyone else's? Not only that, but if you question them, then you can be sure that they are truly your beliefs, not just beliefs that you accepted."

This made more sense to me than anything else I had heard about faith, religion, or beliefs. Ever since then I have questioned everything. Not just about my beliefs, but about life. This relatively new approach has resulted in quite a bit of confusion and changing back and forth between belief systems, ideals, dogmas, etc. It's even hurt a little from time to time. But at least I am sure of one thing. No matter what I believe, it truly is my belief.

Can you say the same?