Seeds and Harvest of Instituted Credulity

‘(Religious) Faith means making a virtue out of not thinking’ – Bill Maher



What we are made to believe and allowed to convince others and their children to believe ultimately has no bounds. Freedom to exercise religion and cultural practices is fiercely defended in most civilised societies, and those that don’t allow for brutal indoctrination of one or another specific creed. Belief in something without evidence is considered a redeeming characteristic in most of the world and in the eyes of most of the worlds population. Questioning what we are told by a higher authority on the other hand, is considered abominable. Attitudes like this can manifest irrational credulity in other facets of life. The same governments and social systems that support them will also expect its citizens to accept what they are being told at face value.



Children naturally believe what their authoritarian figures like the parents and teachers tell them. We do not have the time to spend our whole lives in growing up, nor can we simply apply the scientific method of experimenting to find out every bit of knowledge. A child is not likely to live long if he or she had to learn that something like falling from a cliff is hazardous by trial and error. Educational institutions like schools, universities, churches and mosques are designed to teach not only empirical knowledge but also how to think and when it is or is not appropriate to apply the method of critical analysis. Indoctrination from a higher authority often leaves an indelible impression on a young and malleable mind and being taught to defend ones ineffable belief in something without supporting evidence can have a demonstrable connection to retarding an individuals reasoning faculty. The ‘Credo quia absurdum’ position that people of faith often take can have an impact on how they perceive new information that they hear from those in power, especially if the message is being redelivered by the Islamic...