Intro

When it comes to what one believes is the truth about the world, it shapes how you view what is the truth through the filter of your worldview. Not all worldviews are equally true, so it is of the utmost importance to be as close as you can to what is really true. Religious and Political systems make claims to what is true. These topics to many people defines who they are, and being the case are probably the most cherished of the views and opinions one holds to.

The nature of truth however doesn’t allow everyone to be right. Some people are right, some are wrong, or they are all wrong. Under no circumstances can we all be right. Either God exists or He doesn’t, there is no middle ground. Either the theist is right and God exists, or the atheist is right and God does not exist, but they can not both be right.

I think religion is more cut and dry when it comes to truth more so than politics. Not because we’re dealing with the supernatural, but I think (for me anyway) contradictions are easier to spot.  Politics in most areas are matters of opinion because politics in a real sense is just matters of decisions to achieve a certain outcome.  People desire certain outcomes, more revenue to the government for example.  Some believe lowering taxes will achieve that particular goal, others believe raising taxes will.  Historically lowering taxes raises revenues because the people do more spending and investing immediately and long term, and over time more taxes actually come in.  Raising taxes more revenue comes in immediately, but quickly dies off as people stop investing and spending.  People have different ideas about what is good or bad politically so it is much harder to determine the truth of the matter.  So in that respect in regards to political matters I will mostly be limiting my posts to discussion and my reaction to current events and what I believe to be right and wrong with the matter.  And since our definitions of good and bad outcomes and policies differ I will rarely assert a specific truth.

I think most people today have taken religion to be a kind of wishful thinking, or akin to fairy tales. And those are the believers. Atheists reject religious claims due to an a priori naturalistic worldview where the supernatural is impossible.  Identical evidences receive different conclusions since one conclusion is, in their opinion, not even possible. In some respects it does not matter how improbable or impossible their answer is, it must be correct because a supernatural answer is not allowed.  People are interested in what feels good to them, what makes them comfortable, and rarely if ever do they stop to think, ‘is what I believe actually true?’.  For fear of offending someone by telling them they are wrong, or for fear they themselves might not be right, religious beliefs are wholly unexamined by the holder of religious beliefs.

I personally do not believe there is anything wrong with being right.  I also do not believe there is anything wrong per se with being wrong, unless you do not care that you are wrong.  That to me seems to be intellectually irresponsible.  Everyone should be examining their beliefs about the world regularly, and making changes accordingly to the evidence.  There is nothing wrong with adjusting your worldview to fit the facts.

There is also nothing wrong with acting as though your beliefs are true.  I would attribute the vast majority of “arguments” I get into with others is due to me believing I am right, and then making an argument for what I believe is right and where I believe the other view is wrong.  People get offended when you suggest they are wrong about religious matters.  I take this offense to be evidence that they themselves do not even think their own belief is true for real.  They start with the assumption that ‘no one could possibly know what is true’ when it comes to religion and for someone to tell them they are wrong is a personal affront. To these people there is no separation between what a person believes and who they are as a person.  To attack a belief, to them, is an attack on their person.

To close, I think my beliefs are true, in the objective sense.  I believe my beliefs are true because they match the way the world really is, and are not simply my personal preferences.  In fact not only do I believe my beliefs are true, I act as though they really are.