“Let me tell you why you’re here. You’re here because you know something. What you know you can’t explain, but you feel it. You’ve felt it your entire life, that there’s something wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is, but it’s there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad.”
- Morpheus, The Matrix
In as much as I believe that the topic of faith should not be shielded from the crucible of human reason, I’ve intently avoided talking or arguing about faith or the lack of it, except with a few trusted friends. From experience, I know it only ignites a series of heated arguments that almost always leads to exchange of below-the-belt comments and holier-than-thou/superiority-inferiority attitudes. I suspect that if the participants of such debates will not agree to certain basic rules before it started, the discussion will go nowhere. I mean, how could a person who believes a holy book contains the truth (and nothing but the truth) use the bible to argue his case if the other person he’s debating with, who believes in logic and evidence, do not believe that it is credible source of evidence?
And so, imagine my surprise when, one day, a colleague whom I know to be a member of Iglesia ni Cristo asked me one day if I know Richard Dawkins.
I said I’ve read Richard Dawkins’ work, The God Delusion. At the same time, in my head, my thoughts were circling around the possible direction where the conversation was headed to. I know how some INC members could cling hard on their faith and would not suffer anyone questioning their beliefs. I’ve quietly debated within myself, if I’m going to strike fast and hard, or just let go.
I guess he wasn’t quite aware of that brief, inner turmoil going in within me because he kept on asking about Dawkins’ works, “The God Delusion”, and other atheist writers. I told him briefly about “The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason” and “Letter To A Christian Nation” by Sam Harris, “God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything” by Christopher Hitchens, and “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand in any decent bookstore. Or I could lend it to him.
He ranted on how he have these “dangerous” ideas that he had been cradling for a very long time. He was brought up believing the principles of INC, because his parents are members of INC. But for a long while he had some questions on what he supposedly strongly believes in and the questions continue to grow and multiply as time passes.
Then he went on to ask what my religion is.
I’ve to admit it took me a moment to answer. “I’m a baptized Catholic,” I replied, after what seemed to be a long intake of breath.
“Ah, I see,” he said. “But what are your inclinations now?”
I think that was the moment when I’ve to decide to call myself something.
“I’m a Doubter,” I told him.
“I think I am, too”, he said. “A Doubter with many, many, many questions.”
“Well, then, don’t be afraid of those questions.” I promised him that next time we see each other, I’ll lend him my books. In a sense, he reminded me of myself before. Those questions, I thought, plagued me. But in time, and after much contemplation with open eyes and mind, I saw that it wasn’t a plague. Rather, it’s as basic as the fuel we feed our brains, if I accepted that what could be mundane can also be awesome and inspiring. I think that stage of doubt and thirst for knowledge was described beautifully by Morpheus, in the film, The Matrix.
He hasn’t returned the book up to now. But I hope he finds what he’s looking for in the book. Or even if not, at least, it can help him to free his mind.
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I pray that his INC brethren didn’t catch him with it
But seriously, if he was curious enough to keep on asking about it, then it’s a good sign that the seeds of doubt had already been planted before your conversation. But you did give him good fertilizer 
@Ryan Tani:
I don’t think anyone would catch him. I doubt if he’ll bring the books to their next “samba” day. Hehe.
Those books are really eye-openers.
Off-topic:
Oh by the way, what do you call this plugin used for threaded comments? I want to put this in my blog too! Yay!
Nice Story
So he’s taken the red pill eh? I hope he doesn’t fall back into being an energy source for the machines. Good luck Morpheus!
Nice one! And something that I can relate to. Like Prudence, I tell people that I’m a practicing Catholic, but I keep ‘em out of the loop as to my real convictions. If they only knew
Yup, it keeps things simpler really. People almost always leave me alone when I say I’m a baptized Catholic. True naman eh. I cannot deny that I’m still technically a Catholic. However, I don’t think like one. Paano ba ma-excommunicate? Hehe.
Very nice post, very nice story. We share the same approach to believers, and the same recognition of the importance of labels. Doubter is a nice label to use with believers, who I’m sure are at some levels Doubters too.
Great first post! Moar, moar!
Lots of ideas but I just can’t seem to put everything down into words. Hmmm.
@frank: I sometimes think hardcore believers or fundamentalists are doubters of those who doubt them
hehehe
you mean he doesn’t return books…damn!!!
Haha…mortal sin! :-p
I don’t see any reason why we cannot be true to ourselves and tell people “I am an atheist” when asked. I have, in a few occasions, which left the person asking the question speechless for a few seconds.
@PinoyHeathen – I am an atheist. I know it, and I am true to myself. In no way does dealing with other people in a manner that I find practical mean that I am lying to myself. Unless your identity relies heavily on the labels attached to you, I don’t see how being smart about it compromises your integrity.
Sometimes, a little subtlety is required, as if you were doing soft-selling rather than hard-selling. (Robert Greene also advocates a similar approach in his best-seller “The 48 Laws of Power” and also in “The Art of Seduction”.) It can be self-serving, and it can also later open doors for you to convince other people to question their own faith. For me, it works like a charm
It’s just an issue of labels. Basta ba hindi “halal” ang label ko eh
Doubt = Processing ^_^
ang hindi marunong mag doubt ay napaka grrrr ^_^ pero hindi naman sa lahat ng panahon o sitwasyon ay dapat mag doubt ^_^
masarap talaga na may iniisip ^_^
at tsaka nakakapagod na mag debate o mag sharing thoughts sa mga believer… kasi napaka close-minded nila.. lagi kong sinasabi sa kanila na mag basa na lang kau o kaya pasukin nyo ang aking mundo upang sa ganun ay malasahan nyo at maramdaman kung ano yung nararamdaman kow ^_^ at dyan masasarapan kau sa akin wahehehe ^_^
ang problema kasi wala silang paki alam at ang alam nila ay nasa kanila na ang mga kasagutan ^_^
lagi nga nila sinasabi na BLIND daw ako kaya naging ganito ako ngayon.. ang kailangan kow lang daw ay itindihin talaga ng mabuti kung sino si Jesus Christ sa aking buhay..
ang maisasagot kow lang sa kanila ay “Read everything, Listen to everyone, Don’t trust anything unless you can prove it with your own research.” – William Cooper… wew memorize kow noh? wahehe ^_^
at sabay SMILE sa kanila… aw oh killer smile pa la me wahehehe
Doubt, questioning are the beginnings of new knowledge and discovery. But doubt will not remain forever if you have already found the knowledge. Knowledge will stop you from doubting. But if you still doubt after the knowledge and discovery, then that is different–a form of evasion. And evasion is bad, is rrational, is evil.
lend him this book; 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God… it’s a nice book…
Excellent! If I could write like this I would be well chuffed. The more I see articles of such quality as this (which is rare), the more I think there might be a future for the Web. Keep it up, as it were.