My draft blog on the Types of Knowledge vs Emotion and Ratio received several remarks on my plotting of Beliefs. These remarks were anticipated and fully in line with my own thinking and wondering. Why is a Belief system, and in particular Religion, low on Emotion and high on Ratio?
The ultimate criterion for any Belief system, including Religion, is the willingness to die for that belief (eg, Crusades). A willingness to kill someone (else) follows emotions like greed, jealousy, or lust. For some this belief is Love, for others it’s about Money, Philosophy, Politics, Religion, Science and/or the Truth. These 7 beliefs constitute my concept of the 7 Belief systems.
Developing any of the 7 Belief systems takes time. Any belief needs to shape itself in your (rational) mind. Essentially, it’s about internal curiosity (my blog). Emotions are triggered by (sudden) external events and are about external curiosity (my blog).
Excerpt of my 2017 blog: “The sequence in Life is: consciousness, external curiosity, self-awareness, internal curiosity, thinking, and (extreme) beliefs. Only humans appear to fit in the last 3. Internal curiosity (the Why question) seems to be a prerequisite for thinking.”
In my view, Religion is a derivative belief from Philosophy, its origin. Hence, it makes sense that Atheism, a philosophical view, is slowly being considered as a new religion (eg, Guardian, link 1, link 2, NatGeo, Quora). Clearly, Philosophy is about internal curiosity (Ratio) although it might once have been triggered by external curiosity (Emotion).
Indeed there is a lot of emotion involved in Religion. It is, however, important to separate cause and effect. When any Belief system, and in particular Religion, is under external attack then it invokes lots of emotion – at both sides. That emotion is a consequence and not a cause. Without an external attack, there is little emotion in a Belief system.
An internal attack on a Belief system is usually labelled as a burnout – or a crisis of faith. A quote from a 2007 NY Magazine article: “In a culture where work can be a religion, burnout is its crisis of faith.” Note: italics by LO.
It’s also important to distinguish Faith from Religion. Faith is the belief in the existence of a Supreme Being, regardless of his/her/its name (eg, Allah, God, Yahweh). Religion is the man-made institute claiming that their religion – and their deity – is the only and true religion.
This explains why Religion is part of the Power dimension of the 7 Belief systems, next to Money and Politics. Faith is part of the Knowledge dimension – and in particular part of the Belief system Philosophy. I reiterate my prediction that Faith will once supercede Religion. By then, Technology will claim the current place of Religion.
“God has no religion.” An astute quote by Mahatma Gandhi (1869 – 1948).
Faith (1987) by George Michael – artist, lyrics, video, Wiki-1, Wiki-2
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