Article in Stretton Focus, November 2016
This is the age of unbelief. It is fashionable to be sceptical. We don’t believe in politicians, or trust the banks. We don’t believe weather forecasts. We don’t believe our doctors – we check up on them via Google.
We don’t believe what the churches tell us. The only things we do believe are what the media tell us – so we buy the newspaper that says what we want to hear.
Do we believe in anything or anyone? Do we believe in the future? What do we think about the meaning and purpose of life? We are educated, and this leads to questioning. It is good to have questions, but where can we find the answers?
Who can we trust? What is the truth? Doubt is preferable to absolute certainty. Certainty can lead to extremism. To quote from The Burning of Books by Kenneth Baker:
‘Absolutism has led bigots of all religions throughout centuries, to justify the murder of those who dared to disagree with them.’
Janet Longstaff