Philosopher Jerry Martin asks whether faith is possible for a ruthlessly logical, hard-headed, no-nonsense guy in the 21st century.
In general, men also like to be mentally tough. No nonsense. Just the facts. Shoot down bad arguments. Only believe what can be proved.
Why? We don’t like to be conned, to get the worse end of a deal, to be talked into something against our better judgment. It’s basic martial arts. You have to have your feet firmly planted – on what? On the facts. On reality—as it is, not as we or others wish it to be.
So where does that leave us with regard to the God question?
We think, if only physics could prove there’s a God … But, even though a guy just won a Nobel Prize for discovering the “God” particle, when you look at it, all it turns out to be is a bit of matter that clears up apparent anomalies and validates the standard model of basic physics. Very nifty science, but no God there.
What is it to be tough-minded? Is it the same as hard-headed and, some suspect, hard-hearted?.
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And we think, if only there were a proof, like in mathematics … and now we read that a computer has confirmed the great logician Saul Kripke’s ontological argument for the existence of God. That’s the sort of argument that says, if we can think of a being so great that none greater can even be conceived, it must exist, since otherwise a greater being could be conceived, namely, one that does exist. But all the computer told us is that, if you accept Kripke’s premises, the conclusion follows. The premises are themselves unproved and highly debatable.
We need to go back to basics. Define our terms. What is it to be tough-minded? Is it the same as hard-headed and, some suspect, hard-hearted?
In material science, hardness and toughness are unrelated. They are simply two different things. Hard things can be brittle. Like people, they can snap. When I was in junior high, I fancied I was, not the smartest guy around, but the most purely logical. I could spot a fallacy at 50 paces. My friends used to say, “Martin has a mind like a steel trap – closed.”
If hard things can be brittle, and hard-headed men can snap, what is toughness? In material science, it is something that you can’t break. A strong plastic is hard; a steel cable is tough. You can try to poke it, crush it, bend it, it is unfazed.
Did you ever know one of those guys (maybe you had him as a boss once) who is hard-headed — everything by the book, stick with the rules, the job description, cut and dried, won’t anticipate a problem until it is smashing his skull? I am a Civil War buff, and there were a lot of bad generals like that. Generals like Grant and Lee didn’t have to have proof that the enemy was up to something. They took in the reports, read between the lines, psyched out their opponents, trusted their instincts, and improvised. McClellan, on the other hand, could have an army twice the size of the enemy but, since there was no advance proof that he could win, he held back. In a less bloody context, a battle royal for academic freedom, I asked a veteran of such combats, “Do you think you can win?” “I don’t know,” he responded. “I never ask that question. I do not have to know I will win in order to fight.” He knew that, if you fight, you might win. If you don’t fight, you never will.
Maybe if you believe in God – call it the willing suspension of disbelief – you might get somewhere but, if you don’t, you never will. But, well, we guys want to be tough. We sometimes forget that what takes nerves of steel is not to keep your feet and your mind in concrete but to launch into the unknown, the unproved, the speculative, into things that have to be taken on intuition or a hunch or a gamble.
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My favorite American philosopher, William James, saw the question of religious belief in this way. He wrote a rebuttal to the premier hard-head of his day, British scientist, William K. Clifford, who had argued in a very influential piece that it is always wrong to believe something for which there is not sufficient evidence. He had religion in his cross-hairs.
Living your life in a believing way will be completely different from living it in a scoffing or withholding way.
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Not so, said James in “The Will to Believe.” If a questionable belief meets three criteria, it is perfectly rational for a person to accept it. First, it has to be a “live hypothesis” for that person. Scientists often believe things that haven’t yet been proven. By exploring a hypothesis, they show that it is a live option for them.
The second criterion is that the belief has to be one for which the evidence either way is inconclusive. It can’t be proved but can’t be disproved either.
Third, whether or not you accept the belief will shape your whole life – shape it one way if you accept it, shape it another way if you do not. You cannot remain neutral. Not to decide is itself a decision.
In such cases, it is perfectly rational, absolutely tough-minded to believe — or not to believe. It is your choice.
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The belief in God is like that. Living your life in a believing way will be completely different from living it in a scoffing or withholding way. You will see the world itself differently, as having a meaning for example. And you will see your life as having a purpose, even if you don’t know what that purpose is. But each day, you will try to orient yourself Godward and look for the guiding thread in your life.
When Columbus sailed westward, there was no proof and no guarantees. He had to be tougher than the guys who hewed to the shoreline. When Einstein came up with relativity, there was no experimental confirmation and, in fact, some of the first experiments went against him. He trusted his scientific instincts.
The trapeze family, the Flying Rodleighs, taught the spiritual writer Henri Nouwen a lesson in faith. When the one who lets go of his own swing flies through the air, he must not grab for the hands reaching out to him. He must glide on the air of faith and let the other artist’s hands take his.
Faith is not easy. It may be the hardest thing in the world. It takes a tough man to believe in God.
Photo: Flickr/Greta Ceresini
Really enjoyed the article, really enjoying these comments. There’s enough testament out there, through the ages, and right in my home, to convince, but my period of “letting go” is running into months now, such a painful process, but necessary. These comments were what I needed to hear. Thanks Terry, thanks all.
I believe that because faith requires a tougheningthat it is the very reason God intentionally allows one’s salvation to be based upon it. There will be no invertebrates in heaven.
Kenny, thanks for your post. “No invertebrates in heaven” — just so! I used to wonder why God was so “hidden.” Now I think that the aim of belief is to be transformative, and if he were on TV, with daily announcements, that would not be transformative or salvific.
I would say unambigously YES: a wise man/woman knows his/her limitations and there is nothing wrong in accpeting that you can lean on a “higher power”!
Terry
Good point, Terry! And it is not just a matter of our limitations. Even Superman would need to orient his life Godward. We lean on God and, in a funny way, God sorta leans on us …
Yes Jerry – it was the hardest thing to let go of all I was, it took more courage and ‘guts’ and enormous strength. There is strength in humility and courage in surrender. For me, these are the routes to opening the heart. We cannot understand letting go until we let go! This is the leap of faith. Belief surrounds this and helps this. My Christian faith allows the spirit to expand and spread peace and love in my heart. I feel this. But I cannot feel this before the leap. I can only subscribe to the systems of belief… Read more »
Duncan, this is a very honest, deeply attuned response. “Strength in humility and courage in surrender” is exactly right. I particularly like your take on the “leap of faith” — seeing it not as grabbing onto a bunch of doctrines (“the head stuff”) so much as simply Letting Go, yielding to the divine, letting the heart open. Thank you for sharing!
“Faith is not easy. It may be the hardest thing in the world. It takes a tough man to believe in God.” Wow, that sums it up. I came out of the gate expecting something very different. THANK YOU …I really enjoyed it. Whereas Jason is turned off of GMP, it’s given me reason to stay with it.
Tom, thank you for sharing that with me. When you write a article like this, you put yourself out there, on the life, vulnerable to pros, cons, and — worst of all — perfect indifference. It really helps when sometimes says, yeah, this was right on as far as I’m concerned. It was generous of you to take a moment to post.
I love this piece. My faith is the foundation of my strength as a human being. I am a much stronger and better person as a man of faith. While I was raised as a Protestant (African Methodist Episcopal), I follow many of the laws and beliefs of Orthodox Judaism. It has provided me with a great spiritual foundation. God created man (and woman) in His image. Today we (men and women) seek to create God in our image. Such behavior and beliefs simply leads to unhappiness and people with no or few boundaries. Yes, being a tough man, the… Read more »
Eloquently said, Jules. Abraham was asked to uproot his family and move to a new, as-yet-undesignated land. Moses was asked to go to the most powerful man in the world at that time and demand that he let the Jews leave. Tough? You gotta believe it!
Umm. For what reason, Jason? I’m just curious in the same way I’m curious when I state a viewpoint and get a that’s nonsense reply in return and I ask why and that response is…because.
Thanks for this article. I finally have the perfect reason to unsubscribe from your posts.
Oh, Jason. Imagine my disappointment when I got to your second sentence!
May you find something meaningful to you.
But on the other hand Jerry, you give me reason to stay. “Faith is not easy. It may be the hardest thing in the world. It takes a tough man to believe in God.” And in todays times, it more tough then ever as you can surely see in various responses to various articles here at GMP.
BTW, I was given the green light that an article I submitted was going to be put on GMP. It has to do witgh men and family and my faith.
Jerry,you have my continued support
I guess this is at the root of the observation that the atheist activist community is so blatantly male-dominated (another reason is that it strongly intersects with geek culture, which has been traditionally male). Personally, having wrestled with the exact same thing for years, through good times and depressions, I found that even when you just cannot believe in God, you might still be able to accept a different kind of spirituality. In my case, Buddhism. What I like about it is that you do not have to make a leap of faith right at the start. You can walk… Read more »
Interesting comment, TE. “One cobblestone” at a time, yes, indeed.
There is something to be said for the leap of faith, however. In my experience, wide-open yielding is necessary, something like the trapeze artist above, where you don’t look down.
But I agree with you. No one path is the one we are all called to. The higher reality takes many forms and appears in diverse, sometimes incongruous, venues. You take the spiritual path open to you.