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Blind Belief

Robert Feinstein

The author may be contacted via e-mail at harlynn@panix.com.

2002-04-06



Introduction


I had not thought much about religion until a few years ago, when I met a person who called himself an atheist. When he pronounced that word "atheist" I felt a kind of shudder. I wondered what kind of person he would be, and if being an atheist also implied being amoral. We have become very good friends, and for the first time, I started thinking about the role of religion in our society. I realized that, for me, bible stories were fairy tales. I also realized that many of the dos and don'ts of the bible made no sense to me.

I began to notice that many blind people seemed to be religious and involved with various churches. As a blind person myself, I wondered why this was, and it occurred to me that many secular groups were not as hospitable to the blind. Many blind people are musically inclined, and church gave them a chance to play music, or be in the choir, or even read bible verses before large crowds. In other words, these blind people were a part of a group, and made to feel important.



Honesty and Deceit


I toyed with the idea of attending a church, perhaps the Mormon church. I knew a blind guy who was a Mormon, and he got all the help he needed with readers, cleaning his apartment, and was even given a computer. This particular guy is also gay. When I asked him how he deals with his homosexuality, being that the Mormon church is very anti-gay, he told me that he never mentions it, and that it is nobody's business. He feels the fringe benefits he receives are well worth it, and what he does in his private life is his own affair.

Without wanting to give myself accolades, I am too honest for such deceit. Joining a group because I need help, but having to hide who I am, and pretending to believe what I do not believe makes no sense to me. But I understand why blind people do join churches. I believe many do so in order to escape the horrible loneliness of blindness. But, when people join a church, and begin parroting beliefs, it can be very dangerous, because by the nature of religion and dogma, a part of their intelligence is put to sleep during the service. They must listen without questioning, and, at least during the sermon, they suspend judgement and critical thinking. They become passive believers, and the more they are involved in religion, the less they need to think, because everything is spelled out for them.



Vulnerable Targets


As a blind person, I am an ideal vulnerable target for all of these church-going people. After all, who better than me to try out their new beliefs on! I have been stopped by insensitive people who have told me that, if I believed in Jesus, I would be healed. I have been given holy water, and different ornaments to wear. I have been told about healing services that I should attend. I have been asked if I believe in Jesus, and when I say no, I have been told that if I did, I would not be blind.

There are millions of disabled people in churches who are not healed. There are sick people in hospitals who profess a belief in god and religion. There is absolutely no scientific proof that believing in jesus will heal a person. Yet, these people have the unmitigated gall to stop me, interfere with my guide dog, just to tell me in essence that it is my fault I am blind.

I have gotten quite rude when confronted by religious people, because, if they wanted to help me, they would offer something concrete. I have atheist and non-religious friends who spend a lot of time reading to me, and give me great joy by sharing things with me that are not available in braille. I have yet to find a religious person who would give of his time, willingly, not grudgingly, to help me in a concrete manner. The few times religious people have offered to help me, there was a price tag: I had to attend their church, or, at the very least, listen to a harangue of what they believe and what they think I should believe. Help with such strings attached is not help.



The Desire to Believe


But the problem of religion is much more serious. People who blindly believe are fair game for many scams. Since they have learned not to question, they can easily be hoodwinked. Think of the new agers of today. Instead of talking about god, they like to use the all-encompassing term "the universe". "The universe put you in my path so I could learn something", a new friend recently told me. He asked me to spend $200 to visit a psychic who had told him that he had four guardian angels watching over him (most people only have two). At first I was tempted to aquiesce to his request in the hopes of gaining his friendship. But I realized that this psychic business was clearly nonsense, so I refused, at which point he stopped being in contact with me. I am on a fixed income, and do not intend to spend $200 to listen to some claptrap about past lives, angels, spirit guides, etc.

This guy is extremely intelligent. But he wants to believe in easy answers. He wants to believe that there are spirits and angels and god knows what else up there that care about him. Myself, I am much more earthbound; I need real friends whom I can touch and smell.

I used to think that only people with limited education were religious, but this is no longer the case. You can find people who have studied and who have learned critical thinking profess incredible beliefs that cannot be proven. Take for example, the number of people who believe in astrology. The premise is that our personality is affected by the date and time of our birth. This is an old belief system. Yet, it has no basis in fact. Astrologers tend to talk in generalities and say things that could apply to anyone. And those who believe in it have no desire for proof. Believing blindly is enough for them.



Credulousness


We find a similar phenomenon when it comes to the new belief in the power of magnets. People are making a great deal of money by selling all sorts of different magnetic devices: mattresses with magnets, inner soles with magnets, and even knee braces with magnets. Those who sell these things have learned a script, and talk about the countless number of people who have benefitted from these devices. When I questioned a woman who was selling these magnetic items, she admitted that she still had to take her pain medication. "But I can tell the magnets are helping!" she declared. Again, there is no real desire to try to discover whether there is any truth to the claims of the benefit of magnetism.

I am convinced that I could bottle tap water, and prepare a flyer saying that, because of my blindness, I have been given spiritual insight, and have transferred my powers to this water. I will claim that if the water is applied daily, healing will take place. I can guarantee many will write me testimonies to the benefits derived from my special "healing" water.

This rush to credulousness, this need to find fairy tale answers, is very dangerous, and I believe that it stems from the same habits of uncritical thinking which make religions flourish. A person who believes in a loving god will talk about the beauty of nature, and the awe inspired by the majesty of the mountains. But what about sickness, poverty, crime, disability? Well, this is because of man's failure to accept god's will, they say. Then why are religious people not spared from suffering?

A priest once approached me and said, "Isn't it marvelous that the lord made dogs so that the blind could be guided?" My question to him was, "Why did the lord make blind people?"



Conclusion


God is in a perfect position: when something good happens, it shows he is loving. When something bad happens, he is thanked because it was no worse, and when a catastrophe occurs, well, we do not ask questions because we cannot know his reasons. He can't lose!

I hope that people who read this article will understand the importance of logical, critical thinking. Do not swallow hook line and sinker what you read or hear, whether it be religious or secular. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true. And remember, there are no easy answers to life's complications!



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