A Quick Question
There’s a man I know who every day washes himself thoroughly and goes, barefoot, into a separate small room in his home within which sits a small table. In front of the small table is a cushion and upon that table is a sculpture of a creature with the head of an elephant, four arms, and a large portly body. Every day this man brings fresh flowers, water and fruit to that table and places it in front of the statue. He lights incense and wafts it around the statue while he mumbles some strange words that are quite hard for me to understand because they are spoken in a foreign language. After doing this he will usually sit for a while in silence and stillness. Eventually he will walk away seemingly calm, happy even, and go about his business.
Is this man irrational?
Where Reason Begins
In a previous article I wrote:
Reason is an excellent tool for any human to utilise in making sense of the world around them. But, as Spock would certainly concede, logical deduction is limited by the assumptions from which one argues. Thus, in forming our world-views, beliefs and (ultimately) faith we are reasoning from somewhere. I’d like to ask you, “from where?”
And from this question we explored the basis of my own theory that, when dealings with issues of faith and world-view, people allow three other key influences to help them with their use of Reason, that faculty of our human brains that allows us to figure things out for ourselves.
Since writing that article I have had the privalege working with more and more people who sit outside of any kind of belief system or world view that requires or accepts religious assumptions. That is to say that the starting point for many of these people is entirely different to that which I have experienced when I walk into my local church or visit a nearby mosque, gurdwara or synagogue.
My observation is simple: these people who have different starting points in the way that they interpret the world around them are unlikely to be able to understand the world-view of the differing starting point. If you don’t see any need for god, gods or goddesses then you are going to be pushed to understand the person who does… at least in any way that doesn’t start to border on being patronising.
This article, then, seeks to reassure those of you who start with assumptions about the world that do involve those “other beings” that you are not irrational and unreasonable. It also seeks to challenge those who see the world through natural (as opposed to supernatural) spectacles to consider taking them off for a few minutes.
Reason Starts From Your Core Assumptions
I was raised in a family where the basic assumptions included the following:
- God does not exist, and neither do any other supernatural beings (including ghosts, angels or fairies).
- The entire natural order is a colossal accident from which beauty has arisen from chaos.
- There is no purpose to human life except for that which we make for ourselves (in our case, have children and make money).
Imagine what it is like when, as a person of faith, I come home to visit nowadays with these alternative assumptions in my head:
- There is only one God and we humans are supernatural beings.
- The entire natural order is designed and beauty is part of that design.
- The purpose of human life is to know our creator and to serve his design.
Now, for those readers who are not monotheists or who don’t believe in a created order, bear with me. I simply ask you to make the comparison.
It is clear that now, despite the impact of my family to socialise me otherwise, we have belief systems that arise from totally different assumptions about the nature of things.
And, consequently, whenever a discussion about how the latest evidence from science points towards how something else in the universe might have come about by accident rather than design, the various pro- and con- arguments focused on the science might as well wash over all of our heads. Why? Because, at the core, our assumptions immunise us against understanding the other point of view.
Your Positive Assumptions About The Supernatural Are Not Irrational
I’ve got to be honest, I don’t like using the word ‘supernatural’. For me many things that are outside of the secular world-view are simply natural parts of the created order… but, in deference to those of you who find that a tricky idea, we’ll continue to talk of things supernatural in the sense of those things that defy scientific measurement and material definition – such as the concept of deity.
If you hold a positive view about the supernatural (such as god, gods, goddesses, angels, fairies, ghosts and the like) then you are not suddenly rendered an irrational human being. Even if you hold such matters in a place of possibility, instead of outright ruling them from existence, then you are not crazy to do so.
Many people look out of the window at the morning sun rising across the open fields of their homeland and see beauty and order, something that seems to defy randomness. Others look at that same scene and regard it as nothing more than a beautiful accident. Whatever your basic assumptions about our world, whether it is something created or something that simply happens to be, you are neither way building the rest of your life on an irrationality. On the contrary, your mind is seeing and interpreting the world through different eyes… and forming conclusions based on different first assumptions.
If you believe in some kind of creative force in the universe then it is not unreasonable to feel that there are other supernatural beings. It is not unreasonable to believe that human beings, from our very ability to perceive that which is beyond, are ourselves in some way supernatural. If you believe, as the Hindu might, that we are all Atman (the eternal self) residing for a time in these temporary bodies then you will live out your life in a very different way to that person who rejects all such ideas as mummery. The point is that you simply look through different assumption spectacles.
Your Reaction To The Supernatural Is Not Irrational
The man in my initial story is Hindu. He worships Ganesh, a deity who is believed to be the Remover of Obstacles and the Lord of Beginnings. His morning act of Puja (worship or service) honours that deity and hopes to draw favour from him. For a man who believes himself to be an Eternal Self living temporarily within a physical body that has a purpose and which resides within a universe in which supernatural forces exist who might be able to help him, this is not an unreasonable act.
I have another friend who believes that she can influence change upon her life through the incantation of special words and the repetition of specific ritual acts. She calls upon the supernatural force she names simply as ‘The Great Mother’ to help her make the positive impact she desires to have upon the world around her. She also, in deference to this supernatural power, seeks to take only what she needs from the earth and, consequently, is inspired to recycle and repair rather than buy and throw away. Once again, given that she holds the assumptions about the world that she does, this is not an irrational act.
For those of you who do not hold belief in the supernatural it may all seem quite strange and, frankly, superfluous. After all, we can all recycle and repair to protect our environment. We can all choose to light incense in our homes, or choose to serve other people, or work to make a difference in the world we live within… and all without the need for deity or the supernatural.
Yet… to make such an assertion misses the point.
For those people who are inspired by the supernatural, these acts are rational consequences of the assumptions they hold. My Pagan friend is an environmentalist because of her beliefs about the sanctity of life and the special quality of planet Earth… and those ideas were born in her devotion to Mother. The Hindu chap lives his life with purpose and devotion to Ganesh because it arises naturally and reasonably from his way of looking at the same facts that you or I do.
Most human beings are rational. They do things for a reason. You simply may not understand their assumptions.
The question asks, Is this man irrational? That is a question that leads away from the premise of the entire story, the man is not irrational, but what should be asked instead is, Is this man’s faith irrational, and I would say yes, the time the man takes to do all his religious duties he could have planted a tree, helped a child by joining a children’s help hotline, he could have even took the fruit that wasn’t for him and give it to a homeless person, doesn’t matter what he could have done, the bottom line is he made himself feel better because he prayed. And saying that supernatural forces exist is also irrational because there is no evidence to prove that it exists, appealing to ignorance does not work to prove a thing’s existence.
Thank you for a nice, thought-provoking comment… and one which, I suspect, more people would have an affinity with than you realise. To the outsider who rejects the idea of deity then, certainly, you are correct to question the sanity of our religious man in the opening story. The issue, of course, is that he is starting from a different set of assumptions to, I suspect, yourself… but I’ll not repeat myself here because it’s in the article.
I did, however, want to make a comment about evidence. Are you sure there is no evidence to prove the existence of the ‘supernatural’? I suspect that you are thinking of empirical evidence when you make that statement… and, perhaps, you would be correct. Yet… what is it that has turned billions of human beings towards the ‘supernatural’? I suspect that, as a person with a totally different world view to our Hindu friend, you would find much of value in seeking to understand where he is ‘coming from’ in his thinking. Exploring an idea for understanding is not the same thing as agreeing with it. There is much more evidence for the ‘supernatural’ than you might initially believe and there is certainly no evidence to prove the non-existence of that same ‘supernatural’. The question remains open.
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“Rational” is not really a “religion” word. Certainly when one claims to be rational, he does so on his own authority. There is no test or measure. To say “I am rational” is just as illogical as saying “I am God”. Both statements are unverifiable. Perhaps, in the context of religion, the word “wisdom” is more appropriate. I refer you to Proverbs 8, this is a short excerpt, “The LORD brought me forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old; I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began”. Wisdom is certainly as valid a virtue as rationality. As you read the entire Proverb, you find that wisdom transcends all creation. In fact, wisdom is foundational in the design of all things. The wonders of our world are not accidental, but intentional, and constructed on a foundation of wisdom. In Mere Christianity, Lewis speaks of a near universal observance of the “Natural Law”. This “Natural Law” is the rational behavioral response to wisdom.