A Maine Man in Texas

This a response to an article in the Bangor Daily News continuing the "faith vs. truth" discussion.

When I am asked why I "chose" to be a Christian, I simply say it was ordained. Had I been brought up in Iraq or Egypt I might just as well have been ordained to be a Muslim. In India I probably would have been a Hindu. And if I was born today in the US I might easily be an agnostic, or even an atheist. Why? Because what be believe is determined by what we are taught. Faith is the result of believing that what we are taught is correct. Not necessarily factual and not always truthful, but that what we are taught is correct. A thousand years ago the circle of "teachers" available to a child was limited to family, maybe a few neighbors, and possibly a civil authority or a church leader. In many cultures the civil authority and the church leadership were the same. Many times the freedom to explore alternative beliefs and knowledge was considered disloyal and sometimes heretical. A hundred years ago the pool of available teachers expanded to include written documents, radio, films, and organized schools, mostly run by civil authority and whose teachings were dictated by committees and which followed strict Christian doctrines, even when they expressly denied they were Christian based. 50 years ago, when I was in school, I was influences by TV. No longer did the family, school, or church have the premier impact on my beliefs. Advertiser in New York influenced my choices in clothes, what I desired, and what I wanted to eat. What I said and how I said it mirrored what I saw on TV and in the movies. I was constantly assaulted with bits of information that were contradictions of what I was being taught by my family, my church, and in my school. And, "if it was on TV, it must be true".


Today, it is a constant source of discomfort for me that children have available to them a virtually unlimited supply of information from sources completely unheard of even twenty years ago. I applaud the information technology that makes this possible, but I am concerned that this information blitz is not filtered somehow, to weed out that information that is patently false. This raises the question,"who decides what is true and what is false?" One of my favorite TV shows right now is GLEE. When Brittany tells her friend that "dolphins are just gay sharks", I wonder how many kids will not be able to know that this is just false. Silly, you say? Well, how many people cowered in their homes or even committed suicide when Orwell's, "War of the Worlds" was broadcast over the radio just about 80 years ago?


How easy it is today for children to have so much information, much of it contradictory, that they find it easier to choose to believe in nothing. After all, when they can be taught by a potential role model that dolphins are gay sharks, what can be believed. And God help us all if our children are watching "South Park".


"Who filters this vast influx of information for our children?" The answer is, "we all must". Beginning with the parents, then expanding to our schools, and finally, to our mass media and the messages we send to the media executives by our spending habits. "What about church?:, you may ask. Church membership and participation is the direct result of the parenting provided to children. Faith in God is based on what our children believe. What they believe is totally dependent upon what they are taught. It is up to the parents to filter information and assist their children in sorting out what they are being taught into what is and what isn't to be believed. Yes, it's subjective and, yes, it's somewhat limiting, but it is a primary parental responsibility to train children in deductive reasoning and decision making. A few people believed it was possible that Martians were landing in New Jersey but millions didn't. A few people will believe that dolphins are gay sharks, but millions will think that Brittany is just dumb. A few children will grow up believing that God is a figment of delusional minds, but millions will have faith (because they have been taught to) that God is. What is important to remember, in my humble opinion, is that God smiles at our folly and all will be revealed in His good time. That's what I believe. Pray for peace.

"people should have to pay to go to church and theater should be free"