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Why People Believe What They Believe

By Arlene F. Harder, MA, MFT

Page One of Three Pages

Please Note: This article is a companion to What Experiences Have Shaped Your Beliefs? and To What Should You Surrender?

"If we'd been born where they were born and taught what they were taught, we would believe what they believe."

— A sign inside the front door of Holy Corss primary school in north Belfast, Ireland

Exploring the Roots of Belief

If you were asked WHY you believe what you say you believe, what would be your answer? If you are a Christian, you might say that you want to follow the truth and that your religion must be true because millions of people around the world are Christian. When asked what else you base your beliefs upon, you may answer, "The Bible tells us to believe this . . . or do that . . . or avoid doing another thing." When pressed to explain a Bible verse, you may turn to the interpretation of scriptures as taught by your pastor or priest because that person has done a great deal of study and is a well-known theologian or expert in the area. And similar answers can be given by those who follow the Koran, the Torah, or Tibetan holy books.

While such answers may seem to support your beliefs, they raise a number of questions. For example, is the number of people who believe in a religion really a good barometer? More people in the world aren't Christian than are. And why have you decided to accept the sacred writings of your religion as a blueprint for your life? Other texts are considered sacred by other people. What is it about your holy scripture that makes the most sense to you?

Further, there are many interpretations of the same biblical passage. Why do you put your faith in one interpretation rather than another? The world is filled with experts, yet you have chosen one or a group of experts rather than someone else.

So why do you believe what you believe? The truth is that each person's heart is opened (or closed) to a set of religious beliefs or to spiritual experience in a slightly different way. Each person chooses the particular beliefs that best meet his or her psychological, social, and mental needs. The more we understand why we believe one thing rather than another, the more we can strengthen the beliefs that are most important to us, question those that no longer work for us, and gain greater tolerance for the beliefs of others.

The Influence of One's Culture

We fail to understand one another not only because major religions, such as Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism, have both liberal and conservative branches and numerous sects, but because there are two basically different ways of conceptualizing God and transcendence.

In the western tradition, the divine principle is one in which "God" created the world, so He-She-It and the world are not the same. There is an essential distinction between the creator and that which He-She-It has created, often told in myths (some of which are believed literally) of a perfect creation, a Garden of Eden, where God sets down a law which a man and woman disobeys. This gets them both kicked out and needing to find their way back in by entering into an acceptable relationship with God.

Thus the goal for humans is to determine how they might submit themselves to the power of God by having the right relationship with Him-Her-It. Who determines what that relationship should be? For many centuries the institution of the church, temple, synagogue, and mosque was given the authority to determine what it is that God demands from His creation.

In the Jewish tradition, Yahweh is the god of the Jews alone and a covenant sets out their special relationship. Other western religions also claim to have "the" God and to know what their God asks of them. In "The Fiddler on the Roof," the main character, Tevye, says that the villagers wear their prayer shawls because of tradition to show their constant devotion to God and, "because of tradition, every one of us knows who he is and what God expects him to do."

In the Christian tradition, it is slightly different. Since nature is the creation of God, rather than a part of God, when Jesus becomes true Man and true God, a mystery is created because He combines these two natures. Through a relationship with Jesus, who's become the Christ, you can be in touch with the divine. Without Christ, you are separate from God.

In other words, the general spiritual perspective in the western tradition presupposes that there is a soul within people that may, or may not, be in proper relationship to the powerful creator. Throughout the centuries, of course, many Jewish, Islamic and Christian mystics have developed methods for getting in touch with what they believe is their creator.

From the eastern perspective, however, things are very different. In that worldview the divine is not something that lies outside a person, but is part of the individual. Within each person there is a piece of God. Thus the goal in the religions that grew out of this cultural perspective are very different than the goals of western religions. These spiritual practices (for they are more "practices" than a set of dogma) are designed goal to allow the individual to identity with the transcendent, of which he or she is already a part.

The various deifies referred to in these traditions represent the transcendent. In other words, these Gods, rather than being an end in themselves, point the way toward the essence of eternal mysteries. One might think of them as symbols through whom the light of transcendence shines, much as many different sizes and shapes of light bulbs are not, in themselves, important. Rather, they are valuable as vehicles for transporting what is important, light itself.

This is a very brief description of western and eastern religious perspectives, but I present it here because I believe it is important to understand how an overarching view of the wider culture informs and shapes the beliefs of groups and then of individuals.

Relying on Our Parents for Guidance

Religion is a marvelous mechanism for raising children. Left entirely to their own devices, children would end up as demanding, dependent, self-centered creatures. To awaken their hearts to compassion and love for their fellow humans, churches have long played an important role in instilling high ideals, even though their followers don't always live up to those ideals.

Yes, it is possible to teach children to be moral and ethical without belonging to a church, but parents can more easily reinforce their positive goals with the support of a group that shares their views. A child raised in a particular faith is likely to continue following those traditions.

Once I asked a great-nephew what he believed about something and he said, "My mom believes such-and-such so I guess I do, too." Because his faith is presented in a loving way and the church the family attends have a strong program for the children, so it is very possible he will continue believing what his mother believes.

However, there generally comes a time in all of our lives when we realize we are responsible for affirming our beliefs without reliance on our parents. It is then that we move into a more mature relationship with faith. Then we may truly commit ourselves to the teachings of the church in which we grew up. Or, for a variety of reasons, we may make what could be considered a "lateral" move. For example, we might have been a Methodist but marry a Presbyterian and decide to join that church. Similarly, we might transfer our allegiance from a Jewish Reformed congregation to an Orthodox temple.

Very often, as we move beyond the religious beliefs (or non-beliefs) in which we were raised, many of us decide to give up entirely on religion or choose to set out in a new direction and create our own unique sets of beliefs.

CONTINUED on Page Two

© Copyright 2002, Arlene F. Harder, MA, MFT