Not Knowing

Do you remember any specific lessons you learned in Grade School?

I will share one of mine shortly.

But first, have you ever had to make a major decision even though you did not know all the important facts? Perhaps about a career path, an investment, or a business decision?

Not Knowing key information can be quite disquieting, and yet we sometimes need to act anyway, or dither.

Each of us was born into the same dilemma, ignorance, it is the human condition. One of Not Knowing.

On the bright side…

Not Knowing can lead to

Curiosity & Inquiry which in turn can lead to

Innovation & Progress.

Recall Edison’s thousands of efforts to produce a reliable lightbulb.

Accepting your Not Knowing can lead to lifelong learning & growth.

Among the thornier questions are the universal ones each of us faces.

“Why was I born?” “Is there an afterlife, a Creator?”

The reality is that No One Knows.

However, for many of us, the faith we were born into or have subsequently joined has provided at least some possible answers.

Lacking that faith, one is faced with the existential angst of “Not Knowing.”

Ellen Anderson sat at the front desk of the first row of my 4th-grade class, next to the door. Sr Boniface advised that should Ellen go into the hall and see an elephant, and report back to the class and we all believed her, we would be acting on Faith — that is everyone except Ellen. For she would know. We on the other hand would be Not Knowing, but believing, or not.

Most religions lead to a sense of Meaning & Purpose, provide Moral & Ethical Guidance, a sense of Community as well as Comfort & Emotional Support in the face of adversity and life’s challenges and events.

But sometimes the adherents of any given faith have caused grievous harm to other non-believers and therein is the rub.

Occasionally individuals, churches, and even entire religions can engage in

Us Vs Them Bias

Or Act dogmatically, We say it’s a sin and therefore it is: (Abortion, and Birth Control restrictions may be examples.)

And when a significant plurality within their region, state, or nation may develop a sense of superiority, denigrating unbelievers and worse.

History is replete with religious conflicts from the Crusades, to the European religious wars to conflicts around the world today from Northern Ireland, to India Pakistan, to Shia Vs. Sunni, and to my childhood neighbor, Dave Lee, whose parents would not let him play with us because we were Catholic.

The sins of the faithful, however, are not an indictment of faith, as long as the faithful recognize they are operating on Faith and Not Knowing — no matter how fervent their faith.

There are an estimated 4300 religions practiced on Earth — each offering their unique answers. Some are tiny, but the largest also have many different subsects as well.

One source of Pride for us as Americans is our constitutionally protected Freedom of Religion which as public policy enshrines each individual’s ability to worship in any of those 4300 sects or none at all.

Your faith may in fact be the correct one, I do not know. Nor honestly do you, no matter how fervently you believe.

What that means to me is that in the public sphere, it would be useful to encourage interfaith dialogue.

Particularly relevant to my way of thinking is to lead by example, if you do not believe in birth control, don’t use it. I you don’t believe in abortion, don’t abort, and feel free to teach your children well.

Imposing your dogma, be it Sharia Law or some other set of Faithful precepts is Not welcome.

Instead, seek to understand others, practice compassion, and share your ideas and values but respect others who may not.

Celebrate the diversity of our pluralistic population while challenging those who would use harmful rhetoric to condemn others.

If there is a God, we are all Her people, let’s love and respect one another.