Dear Ingrid,
Yes, I loved your teapot-in-the-sky analogy. (Earl Grey, anyone?)
I also liked the diamond-in-the-yard example given by Mr. Harris.
Yes, fear is definitely a strong motivating factor. In one of my
discussions with my pop, I asked him, Why are you afraid that your beliefs
might be wrong? He did not answer, the first silent moment in our long
discussion. But he need not have answered, because we both knew why:
Religious traditions which are based on authority are glued together by
blocks of faith, and casting doubt on any basic tenant in that structure
can potentially bring the entire stack of cards crashing down. Centuries
and centuries of thought and tradition are at stake, way too much to risk.
After all, given a preference, I would love to forever stay within my
mother's warm, cushioned womb, all comfy and nurtured and having
everything fed directly into my belly button. The alternative? The cold,
harsh, rawness of reality, the brave new world, having to eat broccoli ...
ewww! How many of us wish we could crawl back into mother's womb where
everything is predigested and insulated?
Perhaps we are at a stage in human civilization when the birthing process
has begun and is in progress, when we are being thrust into a new way of
thinking, acting, and reacting. Some (most?) of us hang on to the old
ways; some of us are guilty of luring others back to the old ways; and
some of us are discovering that, hey, life outside the womb is not so bad
after all. Yeah, we may have to endure broccoli, but there's also
strawberries and cherries and peaches and cream.
So, another round of ale to all ... cheers!
HF
