Knock Knock. Who's there?
My guest blogger today is John Wright. Born and raised in Belfast, John now lives in Arizona with his wife Melissa and son Tyler, where he presents an afternoon radio show on KLPZ 1380. This post finds him wondering how to draw the line between faith and superstition. Any comments suggesting an answer to that question are welcome.
The other day I was having a conversation with a secretary in my office at work who was telling me about her thyroid problem for which she takes prescription medication. When she said, "I haven't had any real problems in the last few years..." she paused, and started fumbling around the office as though looking for something. I looked on, dumbfounded, as she reached far down underneath her desk and knocked three times on the wooden skirting board that ran around the base of the office walls. "Knock on wood," she said soberly, before resuming what she was saying as though nothing had happened.
I presume most of you are familiar with the ritual of knocking on wood, though perhaps not always enacted quite so methodically. Why didn't she simply knock on her desk? Well it may not have worked, you see, because it was probably made of composite synthetic laminate rather than real wood. She was scared that some horrible thyroid malady might befall her if she didn't find some real wood to knock on (and that's the kind of thing you want to get right).
Needless to say I had a little fun at her expense. You see, it wasn't any comprehensive 'Theory of Knocking on Wood' that made her do it, nor any well-understood scientific principle. She wasn't recalling any specific instructions, such as the number of times one must knock, upon which kinds of wood it will work, how long one must wait before the knock goes into effect, or even the small matter of what exactly the effect is supposed to be. Superstitions are anything but specific! Yet they're amazingly common, particularly those in which people believe certain things shouldn't be said or done lest they 'tempt fate'.
Ever wonder about the level to which religion consists of or encourages superstition? The idea that God (or gods) will get angry with us unless we do certain things is as old as humanity itself; perhaps it's what could be called the religious version of the "jinx". And, just as knocking on wood may ensure favour with fate, there are things religious people can do to ensure favour with God.
As someone who highly values rational thinking, I'd like to think I could resist the temptation to make the kind of unfounded leaps of belief that constitute superstition. But the ingredients of what we believe are more varied and more complex than that, I would suggest. A commenter on a recent post made the point that religious people like to praise God when things go right (and, I'll add, beg God for help when it's needed) but don't like to blame God when things go wrong. If God is not to blame for the bad, is he to praise for the good? Assuming God exists, to what degree does he intervene? Is he a kind of cosmic puppet master? If so, how often does he pull the strings? Once I have the answers to these questions, I intend on writing a book tentatively titled, "The Way Things Really Work: The Authorised Edition."
The humanists among us will no doubt be happy to regard religion itself as a kind of superstition. The religious may have a problem with that. As a theist, I'm not sure I believe that God intervenes as often as many religious people think he does. So why, then, do I still petition him for help when I'm in trouble? I've noticed recently that, when something goes my way, I pray something like this: "If you had anything to do with that, God, thank you."
Maybe I'm just knocking on wood?
Comments
John there's no difference. Praying for help or touching wood for good luck. You say that you are a theist but I csant tell from this post whether you are a deist or a theist. Do you actually believe in an interventionist God - and if so, why?
The difference between superstition and faith? That's obvious. With faith, there is actually somebody listening. With superstition, it's just bulldust. When I pray to God its because I already believe there is a god. Praying doesnt make any sense if there is no God, right? (So someone explain to me why so many atheists say they still pray?)
John I think you'll find that people of faith, people for whom God is central to their lives, have little or no time for superstitions, new or old. Superstition may be among the squatters that move in when faith in any real sense has died or left the building. Some superstitious people may still go through the motions of faith: the rituals, paying lip-service, even "prayer" (eg the prayer of Jabez). In fact going through the motions maybe become, in some cases, even more important than ever. But superstition is at best a sign of a faith that used to be, or that never really was, not a sign of a faith that still is. As Chesterton said, when people stop believing in God, they don't believe in nothing - they believe in ANYTHING!
Such an easy question. Faith, now that's what I have. That's what my religion imparts through its transcendent teachings. Belief in the true word of the Lord. Those who believe as I do are surely going to heaven. We KNOW the right path to live by. How do I know? God spoke to me and told me so. But superstition is an entirely different matter. That's the wrong path. Those are the lies most of the people in the world believe in. Superstition is the teachings of their false religion, the devil's work. And that is why God is so angry at them. They are all sinners and they will all surely go to hell. How do I know? God spoke to me and told me that also.
It's a tough job trying to save as many souls from eternal hell fire and damnation but that is our calling. They must not be allowed to continue to believe and spread their false lies or the world will be lost to the devil. If they cannot be persuaded to see the truth, then I'm afraid it's death to the infidels.
If you don't believe it, ask any religious leader if it isn't true. What would you like to bet that if they are candid, that is the answer you will get from every one of them. After all, how do you sell a product if you admit that the other guy's is just as good and there's only one to a customer at a time?
Faith is about hope, optimism and strength to overcome present and future adversities.
Superstition is about fear, pessimism and cowardice in facing the uncertainties of life.
Faith does not disappoint, superstition depresses.
Faith makes one act, superstition causes hesitancy.
Faith supplies solutions, superstition adds problems.
Who among us does not have faith? Who among us does not have superstitions?
Regards,
Michael
Roger- That's an interesting thought: superstition is what replaces real faith when faith has become a ritual.
Don’t forget the scapular or the rosary and the superstitious medals such as the ST. Christopher wore by all the papists, and let us not forget all the papists’ sports men and women who cross themselves before commencing their particular sporting event to gain advantage over their fellow competitors. Who shall win if every single competitor crosses themselves before starting?
From the title of this post I thought it was going to be about the Eurovsion Song Contest;-)!
John, as someone who highly values rational thinking why would you pray at all? Have you ever had a response, has any thing ever happened to make you believe that someone is listening to you. What rational thought process has led you to believe that there is any reason to pray to a god that you aren't sure exists?
I think you are knocking on wood.
"someone explain to me why so many atheists say they still pray?"
I wasn't aware that they did Sam. I certainly don't. Maybe those that do are trying to identify with some type of pantheistic notion of god.
I know that Bob Price (biblical scholar) identifies himself as a christian atheist and still attends church and takes communion. Maybe he sees value in the ritual itself. And I can understand why people might go to church for the social and ritualistic support it gives to people, but that doesn't make it any closer to becoming a rational world view.
Basically, I can't see how rational thinking can ever lead to a belief in superstition or the supernatural.
dp- You're asking good questions, ones which I'm not sure that many theists ask themselves. If they did, there'd be a few huge problems to deal with. The first problem with assessing the value of prayer is that for every 'answer' that can be attributed to the supernatural activity of God, there are other answers that can be even more easily attributed to natural causes. A second difficulty is knowing how to reconcile the fact that most prayers will be contradicted by the prayers of others. If a high school student asks God to let her be top of the class, and he answers that prayer, does he ignore the prayers of the others in the class who wanted the same thing for themselves? To take it a step further, would such prayers cancel themselves out and result in natural (as opposed to supernatural) ends? Perhaps then all prayer is self-canceling and God just allows things to be? In which case we now have a non-interventionist God?
According to the words of Jesus Christ, "God is good". And not only that, but we know that God's will is not always done on earth, otherwise Jesus would not have instructed us to pray for "thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven". How that works out in the interventionist sense is, according to my reading of the bible, always going to be imperfect until the perfect (Christ, round 2) comes.
Re. the "bad" things happening...
Jesus was asked a few times about why bad things happened (towers falling, etc). He didn't take the bait (to debate the "will of God" in a particular situation) but, after pointing out that the bad things weren't a result of individual "sin", he stressed that one should consider their own position before worrying about the fate of others.
As I've often been heard to say, "God is good, so we don't have to be..." - that is the gospel in a nutshell. Where do you stand? Answers on a postcard (or e-mail equivalent)...
Homeopathy "works" when the "active constituent" of the "remedy" is diluted down beyond the point where there would even be a single molecule of the original substance there.
Perhaps, since god has been diluted down to the point where it is plain that it's not actually there at all, it has its effect in a similar manner. Homeopathic god.
There's a name for that phenomenon... let me think... ooooh...
Ah.
Yes.
Placebo.
-A
Sam Spud- what a ridiculous post that was. "With superstition its all BS" yet with faith its because "someone is actually listening".
1) you do not "know" that someone is listening, you have faith and believe that there is somebody listening.
2) Superstitious people often genuinely believe that by repeating silly, incidental actions, they will achieve what they want to.
Now what is the difference between the religious person who prays, believing without any substantial evidence that a god is listening to them and the superstitious sportsperson who wears the same socks for every game, genuinely believing, also without sufficient evidence , that fate will look favourably on him?????
The answer you gave - Oh superstition is BS, but because "I" believe that someone is listening to my prayers, then my praying isnt BS! If you cannot see that this is a ridiculous arguement then you need to think more carefully before you post. There is no difference between you and the sportsman. When both of you are asked to show evidence that your praying or superstitious behaviour works you will only be able to present conflicting evidence. The prayer may think his prayers have been answered at times, but there will be many many more examples hen his prayers have not been answered! Same goes for the supertitious people in the world. Sportsmen win and lost!
Get your dander up