Doubts and Doubters

If you’ve never had any doubts, you’ve probably never had any senior moments either. Doubt is an intriguing word. Let’s go to my computer Free Dictionary by Farlex: doubt: 1. To be undecided or skeptical about. 2. To tend to disbelieve, distrust. 3. To regard as unlikely. 4. Archaic to suspect, fear. Putting them together doubt involves indecision, skepticism, suspicion, disbelief, distrust and fear.

Of course, doubt can also be a good thing. It could save us from embarrassment or harm; it could befriend us from a scoundrel; it could intensify our suspicion . . . Remember the Disciple Thomas who wouldn’t or couldn’t believe that Jesus rose from the dead? When he saw Jesus, placed his finger in His wounds, his doubts vanished. But more, doubting made his faith even stronger.

Our daily newspaper (not a religious journal) ran an AP headline on page 6G: Angry atheist books sell; public angst over faith renewed. It started like this. The time for polite debate is over. Militant, atheist writers are making an all-out assault on religious faith and reaching the top of the best-seller list, a sign of widespread resentment over the influence of religion in the world of nonbelievers.

Rachael Zoll goes on to list several books including God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris’ The End of Faith. She also mentions that bad behavior in the name of religion is behind some of the most dangerous global conflicts and terrorist attacks.

I would say this is perhaps an understatement because religion, unfortunately, is behind not some but more likely most terrorist attacks. It is true that some religious groups are ringleaders in fomenting terrorism; branding those outside their religion as infidels worthy of exterminating; fighting intra-religious wars (e.g. Sunnites vs. Shiites). This trait also is seen in Catholics vs. Protestants, Protestants vs. Protestants [not a misnomer], and tribal warfare, etc.

Of late we have seen an emergence of anti-religious sentiment, some subtle, some blatant. No doubt there is a reaction to religious extremists (often called right-or left-wingers) which is understandable. Criticism is due to a growing public indifference or even a welcoming of it. Because some of these anti-religious volumes are selling briskly, it may be assumed there is a yearning for arguments to defend an anti-religious perspective. Others may simply be curious and a few books may be purchased for a rebuttal. Whatever, they seem to be selling well.

What is happening of course is the creation of doubt. We witnessed this earlier in the work of Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code and the socalled tomb of Jesus. The general decline in church membership and attendance in main-line Christendom has added fuel to doubting along with both indifference and hostility toward religion in various ways: subtle, turbulent and pervasive.

As seniors, we are closing in on our final moments which may be days, months or years away. If we give credence to these anti-religious tirades, our senior moments could be plagued with doubts. However, if we recognize that there are many religions, and if we embrace any of them, these criticisms can do us a disservice. However, if these critics are primarily attacking the negative aspects of religion, that is one thing. But if they are attacking the good, noble, sacred and ordained, that is quite different. Since it is not pleasant living with doubt, look at the bright side of your faith, not the dark side. Then your doubts will subside if not cease altogether.