I've seen dogma kill genuine inquiry that could have led to growth and a greater understanding of truth. I've seen it happen in religion, including my own. I've seen it happen in science when scientific theories become so entrenched that no one dares to challenge them. Usually this happens when pundits, journalists, politicians, teachers, or someone else grabs a theory that suits an agenda they're trying to push and tries to stifle debate by relying on the sacrosanct nature of a particular 'theory' of science and the scientific 'experts' who say that's the way it is. This is especially unfortunate because one of the basic tenets of modern scientific inquiry is the importance of challenging theories. Sometimes scientists become arrogant enough to become closed-minded to challenges to their own pet theories, but in my experience, they are often more apt to open their minds to all possibilities and refuse to allow their science to put on the cloak of religion.
I used to be much more dogmatic and closed-minded than I am now. I think the challenges of life eventually knocked me out of my stupor and forced me to reconcile what I believed with what I observed and experienced. One really powerful catalyst for this change inside me was experiencing the death of a friend. I think death makes us question a lot of things. When I was 18, Scott, one of my best friends, was killed in a car crash. I had seen him only a few days before in a musical 'The Secret Garden' in which he played Dickon. The play, oddly enough, deals a lot with death and Dickon is one character that brings a lot of life and joy onto the stage as some of the characters are mourning the loss of loved ones. I received a phone call in the middle of the night a few days after I had seen him telling me he had died. Some friends of mine and I attended his funeral later that week. It was a wonderful funeral and I felt a strong impression that Scott was all right, he was still around, and wanted all of us to be happy. I believed many things at the time that should have been sufficient to comfort me after losing him. In spite of all of this, I was torn up inside. Years later, I read C.S. Lewis' 'A Grief Observed' and found a friend in Lewis who wasn't afraid to share his grief and his attendant doubts with the world. I had an awful time too and I found myself in subsequent months re-examining many of my own beliefs, trying to come to terms with the loss of one of my best friends.
Death makes us question things. But so does any difficult time. A few years ago, faced with one of the darkest times in my life, I realized that there were inconsistencies in my belief system. I know of no good way to create a belief system from scratch that is guaranteed to be in line with truth, but I do know a good way to find out whether a given belief system is true. If it's not self consistent, it can't be true. Truth can't contradict itself. It took me years to discover it, but the dark times brought me to the realization that my beliefs contradicted themselves in fundamental ways. Thank God for challenges. And may I never be so blessed again. I was forced to open my mind to the possibility that I had been dreadfully wrong all my life about my most basic and treasured beliefs.
Choosing to question everything is a scary proposition. I found that stepping out on a limb like that required courage, but I came to the point of feeling like my integrity was at stake and I couldn't live like that. I had to examine everything, even my most basic beliefs, and question the value of them. As I examined this structure of faith I had built up over the years, I found that a lot of foundational building blocks had holes in them. I was afraid to tear it all down and start over because I didn't know what I would have at the end. But I did it because I felt I had no choice. I had to maintain my integrity even if that meant abandoning things I had held dear all my life. I ultimately made the decision that I would refuse to be comforted by a false position and I would find the truth no matter what it cost me.
After going through this process to a large extent (and I don't think the process will ever really end because I'm constantly evaluating and re-evaluating things I know and believe based on new experiences and new information), I described some of my experience to a friend. He gave me some really sage advice that I kind of wished I had had at the beginning of my experience, but in hindsight, perhaps would have alleviated my struggles too much and made them less meaningful. He told me that it might be natural to be afraid to do that kind of self-examination, but that fear was probably unnecessary - because in the end, the truth I found probably wouldn't be that much different than what I had believed in the first place. I was stunned because that is exactly what I had discovered. My beliefs didn't change radically, but they did change in fundamental and important ways. Many things I had believed simply had to be tweaked a little to bring them in line with a self-consistent philosophy and worldview. I came to appreciate the complexities of human reasoning and the importance of searching out truth for oneself. I don't believe that all truth is relative, but I do believe that each person has to find his/her own way to obtain it. Relying on an expert or a leader just isn't sufficient. Experts and leaders are humans too.
One of my church's early leaders, Brigham Young, in 1862 said some very appropriate things related to the concept of being open-minded and questioning everything in a religious context. On one occasion, he said, "The great masses of the people neither think nor act for themselves. ... I see too much of this gross ignorance among this chosen people of God."
On another occasion, "What a pity it would be if we were led by one man to utter destruction! Are you afraid of this? I am more afraid that this people have so much confidence in their leaders that they will not inquire for themselves of God whether they are led by Him. I am fearful they settle down in a state of blind self-security, trusting their eternal destiny in the hands of their leaders with a reckless confidence that in itself would thwart the purposes of God in their salvation, and weaken that influence they could give to their leaders, did they know for themselves, by the revelations of Jesus, that they are led in the right way. Let every man and woman know, by the whispering of the Spirit of God to themselves, whether their leaders are walking in the path the Lord dictates, or not."
Which brings up one last important point - don't think you're smart enough to find the truth all by yourself. While questioning everything, seek wisdom from God. Ask Him humbly and sincerely for help in understanding. He is the only source of truth I have found to be infallible.
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