Our theme for October is “Why I Believe.”
If you had all the facts all the fictions,
If you knew everything about science and all about religion,
Would you stand by your convictions ?
Would you still make the right decisions?
Would you accept someone else’s opinions in this life?
I’ve read all the books
And I still don’t have all the answers
And that’s fine whatever it takes to get you by
Because it’s all a leap of faith
From white plastic saints to
To all those hard questions you have to face
Every single day
Less Than Jake | Showbiz? Science? Who Cares?
I often wonder about my beliefs and convictions. Am I simply a product of my upbringing? My surroundings? Was I born into the world a blank slate with no preconceptions? Were my belief cemented in me at a young age? Just how much have my beliefs changed over the years? Just how much can a person’s beliefs truly change?
(And on and on and on….)
I know the answer to some of those questions.
I believe some things because I genuinely think they are true.
(Seinfeld is a terrible show, and everyone who likes it has moronic tastes.)
I believe in some things because they are trite and don’t matter.
(My cat Marco is literally the cutest, bestest cat of all time.)
I believe some things because I choose to believe them.
(If every single eligible person in America voted their true convictions, we wouldn’t be stuck in this binary Republican/Democrat hellhole.)
I believe some things because it is easier than wrestling with the hard questions.
(My agnosticism is a cop out.)
I believe some things because the alternative scares me.
(I can and will beat my addiction.)
In the end, however, I believe a lot of things because I have to, and I try to make an educated guess. But at the end of the day, it is all a leap of faith. And I try to believe in things that give me comfort. Or at the very least, help me function in a fucked up world.
Maybe that is a glib, simplistic answer. Like The Buzzcocks sang—I believe what I believe in!
Why do I believe?
I believe so that I can get by and live my life.
Paul (’10) lives in Grand Rapids with his wife, Emma (’10), and cat, HandsomeMarcoCat. He loves board games, Babylon 5, and honey-curry chicken. Everything else is negotiable.
