Should articles of faith and personal beliefs be exempt from inquiry?

[laconicsax]

Should articles of faith (both official and unofficial) and personal beliefs be exempt from examination and inquiry? That is, should they be left alone and unchallenged?

[napi21]

1. If you''re a candidate for any office, and if you commit, as JFK DID,

mot to let your faith influence your governing, then YES questions about what you believe should be left alone. However, recently, almost all the Pubs are GOVERNING based on THEIR beliefs, and in that case they should b questioned and challenged about all their beliefs.

[laconicsax]

4. Has it ever not been about beliefs?

For example: The belief that we should help those in need vs. The belief that I got mine, fuck 'em or the belief that Government should be one of the people, by the people, and for the people vs. Kings and divine right to rule.

[napi21]

8. IMO that's not your "faith"! As I understood the OP question,

it was about a candidates's Religious faith.

Beliefs is another question all together.

[laconicsax]

12. What separates the two?

Simply calling it religious is a cop-out. Why should one set of beliefs be treated any differently than another? Shouldn't both sets be open to rational inquiry?

It's often said that right-wing Christians worship at the altar of capitalism, or something to that effect. Why should someone's economic or political beliefs be treated any differently than their religious beliefs, especially if they're all held with equal conviction? Suppose someone believes that some parts of the Bible are literally true and that laissez-faire free-market capitalism and social conservatism are the best policies. Why should any of those three be regarded as off-limits?

[skepticscott]

15. Well, a useful distinction can be made

between convictions that are held because of reason, evidence and experience, and beliefs that are simply based on faith (religious or otherwise) and nothing more.

[laconicsax]

17. While I agree in principle, that's too general a distinction.

The examples I gave of "The belief that we should help those in need vs. The belief that I got mine, fuck 'em" and "the belief that Government should be one of the people, by the people, and for the people vs. Kings and divine right to rule." don't fit neatly into those two categories.

In the first pair, reason, evidence, and experience can be used to support both positions, and the final decision requires a certain degree of faith. The belief in a democratic government wouldn't have had much reason, evidence, or experience a few hundred years ago and again, a certain amount of faith was required to accept it as the best choice.

[skepticscott]

19. I just prefer not to overextend

the use of the word "belief". If someone asks "Do you believe in evolution?", my answer is "No, I'm convinced that it's true."

[MineralMan]

2. Other. It depends to whom you are referring.

In all cases except myself and people very close to me, it's pretty much none of my business, so I don't engage in examination and inquiry of anyone but myself and those very close to me. The beliefs and articles of faith or others than those are not my concern.

Behavior, on the other hand, is quite another thing. Believe what you wish, but behave in accordance with societal rules. If you don't, then you're certainly fodder for the examination and inquiry mill.

[laconicsax]

6. Let's say it's people voluntarily stating their beliefs publicly. n/t

[MineralMan]

18. For me, it doesn't matter. Behavior is the only thing I judge people

on.

[laconicsax]

21. And if they say their behavior is guided by various beliefs?

[MineralMan]

23. It's still their behavior. If their beliefs cause the behavior

it's still their behavior.

[laconicsax]

27. And so the cause then be ignored?

Seems like sticking your head in the sand and it isn't how our justice system works.

Cause is a vital element to understanding something.

Suppose two people, A and B, kill two other people, C and D.

A killed C because he had a belief about how people like C should be treated.
B killed D in what she believed to be self-defense.

By ignoring the cause of A and B's actions, we say that motive is unimportant.

[HereSince1628]

3. Yes, the inquisitors should go directly to punishment.

Why bother with an inquiry?

[laconicsax]

5. Some feel that personal beliefs should be off-limits. n/t

[HereSince1628]

16. If 'some' should kept their beliefs to themselves

then they would keep their personal beliefs off limits.

[IphengeniaBlumgarten]

7. Some beliefs are benign, others are not.

I voted Other.

Some beliefs are not harmful, e.g. god is a loving father. Other beliefs justify aggression towards others, e.g. smite those bad people over there.

Many political and social attitudes seem to be based more on belief than reason, unfortunately. Those that are dysfunctional should be challenged. (However my idea of dysfunction may be your idea of civic virtue.)

[ZombieHorde]

10. One good way to judge a belief as benign or not, is to question it.

god is a loving father

This is a meaningless belief. Suicide bombers worship a loving father, they just have a different opinion on what that means. Same for those who who blow up women's health clinics. One person's loving father is another person's terrorist god. This is why I think all religious and political beliefs should be questioned.

[laconicsax]

13. Here is a belief. Is it benign?

"God is the absolute source of morality" or another equivalent wording.

Is this a benign belief?

What about this belief:

"God is the supreme ruler of the cosmos."

This belief provides a foundation for the acceptance of the first belief. Is it benign? How do you determine if a belief is benign?

[ZombieHorde]

9. No. Questions are good. Recommended. nt

[Kurmudgeon]

11. Always beware of things put in absolutes. And who gets to do the examination and why.

[LeftishBrit]

14. I don't think that anything is exempt from inquiry as such...

however, if people don't push their beliefs on others, and if they prefer privacy on the subject, then I think this should be respected. Once you choose to participate in a Religion/Theology forum, then your beliefs become a legitimate topic for inquiry. However, I don't think that religious beliefs should be a factor in for example a job appointment or eligibility for political office, unless the candiate indicates that they would enforce their religion-based rules on others.

[cleanhippie]

20. Ever notice how the apologists never seem to respond to questions like this?

I notice it.

[laconicsax]

22. You'll notice I edited the OP immediately after posting.

While it was ostensibly to add 'other' in the 3rd slot, PM me if you want to know what the original 3rd option that I deleted before posting was.

[trotsky]

24. I notice it too. n/t

[AlecBGreen]

25. People are free to ask and people are free to keep silent

Someone can ask me "Do you believe X" and its my choice to answer or not.

[ZombieHorde]

26. Not a single yes vote. I feel like I have read opinions against questioning religous beliefs on DU.

Perhaps they have changed their minds. I change my mind once in a while.