Rabyd Opinion – A Healthy Dose of Christian Skepticism

 

Yeah, I know James Randi is an atheist but he is right when he says that having an open mind and having a hole in your head are two different things.  I have always labeled myself as a Christian skeptic because quite frankly Christianity needs a healthy dose of skepticism.  Not just every once in a while either but quite often.  I used to get in a lot of trouble for saying stuff like this because people considered it to be lacking faith.  Faith is the substance of things hoped for to be sure but that does not mean it is blind or stupid.  Faith not founded on fact or reason is just plain blind and stupid and I reject that kind of faith.  I read a lot of atheists because quite frankly they point this out to me and I have to keep my mind sharp in regards to my faith because of them.  I like atheists to be honest and would rather have conversations with them on many issues outside faith because they are often far more reasonable and sensible viewpoints.

This contrasted greatly with the experiences I have had inside the faith when it comes to being skeptical.  I have gotten the whole gambit of backlash for being a skeptic of elements of faith.  Particularly this happens because I now am one of the biggest critics of Pentecostal and Charismatic faith-based issues.  I used to be one so I know what is going on when they do what they do to ‘prime the pump’ of faith.  A lot of it was the same crap that fortune tellers, astrologers and propagandists use to get people to believe in them and follow what they say.

1. I have seen people do the same thing that people who claim they can talk to the dead, do the same kind of cold readying thing with people’s problems.  Instead of using a dead relative they use ‘channeling’ God instead.

2.  Personal prophecy is done with the same principles.  Keep fishing until you get something close to the where the person is having problems and the reason this works is people have the tendency to forget things the ‘prophet’ gets wrong.  The nature of these prophecies is often like reading a horoscope. They are so general they could apply to anyone.

3. I have watched sleight of hand involving miracles.  I have seen these healing evangelists pick up a  cane from one person but tell the person next to them to run up and down the aisle.  I have seen them work up a crowd emotionally into a frenzy so then they can say anything and people will believe it.  I noticed long before James Randi noticed Peter Popoff that some evangelists had earpieces that were probably feeding them information.  It at first made me wonder why I would never be picked out for prayer by these people until I made the connection that I never filled out a card at these events.

4. The ‘miracles’ I have experienced have been in large part had alternate explanations.  The placebo effect and mental state affecting health are real factors.  I have never seen say a person with no left hand suddenly grow one or a person with no legs suddenly grow them.  I have heard of people cured of cancer that were confirmed by doctors to have cancer but if you look at the whole thing closely, the person also received medical treatment in between being diagnosed and getting prayer.  So what healed them, prayer or modern medicine?  Don’t get me wrong, I do think God heals because I do have a few I can’t explain other than God, but that may only indicate that I am ignorant of something that could explain it.  It does not prove or disprove the miracle based on evidence because I can’t figure out how it could otherwise be done.

Needless to say I have caught a few bits of flack from people who thought I was undermining faith in God.  I wasn’t really, I was just pointing out that there are people who take advantage of Christians being gullible.  It’s a healthy skepticism I try to maintain so that I know the difference between false faith and real faith.  But that is not the only extent to which my skepticism extends.

I also have a healthy skepticism of the skeptics.  I try as hard as I can to be skeptical of people who have criticism of faith in return.  I have found atheists and agnostics that use fallacious arguments with logical fallacies and I think they should be called out on it.  I often wonder why they don’t level the same skepticism on themselves and their beliefs that they level on mine.  True skepticism cuts all directions and does not focus on just those you want to be skeptical with to discredit them but you have to be more skeptical of your own views or your just being an arrogant person who thinks what you believe cannot be wrong.  No matter how you slice it reason has its limits, experience can only prove things to yourself and tradition is full of pitfalls.  You have to be critical of every idea until it proves itself no matter where it comes from including your own head.

I have never like the idea of an open mind.  Having an open mind sometimes condones the idea that I need to suspend judgment. I prefer to have a discerning mind where everything is subject to the close scrutiny of reason, my experiences and things I have found to be true.  I also am free to revise anything I believe if I find something else that challenges it or changes it.  I wish more people were the same on all sides.

IMHO