I Doubt I Believe

Have we become so skeptical that we have begun to question the faith of others? I was recently watching a show on superstitions that have been part of the Indian culture for centuries now. The only problem was that the show was prescribing that we bring in scientific awareness to these “backward” people and help them stop participating in such “primitive” practices.

Why should we make people question their faith? Why do they need to stop participating in superstitions that, according to the show, have not harmed a single person in the past several centuries? To me this was proof that we, in our fast moving cities with state-of-the-art amenities, have lost out on one basic ingredient that makes life worth living – faith.

I am not pointing fingers. I am talking about myself. I realized that I have been so busy making ends meet, looking after my family and just dealing with everyday life issues that I don’t remember the last time I truly felt passionate about something. I remember being an idealistic adolescent, a person who was always looking for an opportunity to pick up the cudgels for a cause in my 20s. When did the fire die out? Why did I not feel the heat ebb away? Why do I need a TV show to see parts of myself that I held precious just a few years ago?

Another issue was brought home once again. Why do we need to make everyone behave and think like ourselves? If someone is different, has different beliefs and sees the world differently from the way I do, doesn’t that make the world a richer place? So why is there this constant need of the “more civilized” people to judge and “reform” people who are “less civilized.” If African tribeswomen wear rings around their necks to elongate their neck, does it necessarily mean that their understanding of the world is more limited than ours? If someone from a small town in India regularly visits a priest to have a coconut broken on his head as blessing, does it mean that he is less advanced in his thinking that I am?

Faith is a wonderful thing. If I truly believe that there is someone out there looking after me, doesn’t that lower the burden on my shoulders? If I can jump off a cliff and believe that there really are only two possibilities – either God catches me or He teaches me to fly – then I would consider myself a true believer.