The Power of Belief

by Ron Sebring

During childhood, I recall pondering why people’s beliefs differ. My parents took me to a Baptist Church. On the playground, classmates spoke of experiences with Methodists, Presbyterians, and others. While fun captured our fantasies, the underlying beliefs and their differences meant little.

In high school, I associated with classmates who had attended Catholic schools—a whole new category. One classmate was Jewish. Born into another family, the denomination responsible for my religious molding would differ. Confusing too: why various churches claimed a monopoly on truth. More than a few youths took pride in that exclusivity.

I received my college and seminary training during the 60s. My awareness of the plethora of belief systems exploded. Not only religious beliefs but political beliefs, social ideals, and people marching with banners to defend principles, causes, and lifestyles. Religious or not, people’s belief systems are the central, primary force shaping words and behaviors, rituals and lifestyles, economics and politics.

Most troubling is how much suffering differing belief systems can inflict. Terrorists torture and kill in the name of a belief tradition. Pol Pot converted to Communism in France. He returned to Cambodia with a mission: to reinstate the ancient ways. His Khmer Rouge government created the “Killing Fields,” all because of a belief that rallied strong support. Hitler believed in an ideal, the Third Reich explained in his Mein Kampf. This fascist nationalistic belief system rallied wide support. Millions were slaughtered to realize a failed dream.

We are prone to condemn individuals for atrocities in history. Perhaps the real culprit is the belief system they represented, for no individual can wreak havoc without a believing community behind him or her. Christianity, too, has had its dark moments—crusades, inquisitions, racism, leaving much devastation in its wake.
Perplexed during the ’70s, I committed my dissertation to this topic. I drew from theology, social psychology, linguistics, etc. Thomas Kuhn and Ian Barbour introduced me to “paradigms” and the nature of “Assumptive World Views.” I came to believe that people live, move, and have their being in the bubble of their belief system. Such can override even the instinct to survive—Jonestown, Heaven’s Gate, Branch Davidians.

People sometimes say it doesn’t matter what one believes. I get that. Tolerance and a nonjudgmental embrace of religious traditions can be good. However, and this is the paradox; it does matter. From our belief systems, we adopt our stories, paradigms, ethics, and how we make sense of our sufferings. I call this process of belief-formation: mythos-logos-ethos-pathos. Healthy belief systems that point to deeper truths, deeper fundamental mysteries, and deeper principles far beyond articulated beliefs are critical for health, happiness, and social well-being.