Shawn L. Bird

It is quite sublime arrogance to assume that you have the corner on truth, isn’t it? I am quite astonished at vehement superciliousness that simply reveals a profound ignorance about the world. As Hamlet observes, “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” If one imagines he knows everything about anything, he’s simply flashing a glowing statement of his own ignorant pompousity.

People ranted and raved and rallied about the stupidity of sailing around the world, because the world was flat! They screamed and burned and pillaged at the heresy of suggesting that the Earth orbited the sun. They were sure their holy books supported their opinions. They were wrong. At best, they were misguided, at worse, they were dangerously stupid. In Hamlet, Polonius suggests, “Tis too much prov’d, — that with devotion’s visage, and pious action, we do sugar o’er the devil himself.” A lot of people who imagine they are of profound faith cause more trouble than all the demons they imagine strolling among the population.

When everything in your world is black and white, there is no room for any truths to manoeuvre. When your mind is closed to the fact that any God that exists must be bigger than any truth you could conceive of, you are essentially declaring yourself divine. If you think you can hold God’s truth, than you are the ultimate blasphemy.

My friend Rochelle has a saying, “The only thing I’m sure of, is that I’m not sure of anything.” Now there is a philosophy worth espousing! The more you learn, the more you realize how little you actually know. For fanatics, the world is so tiny they imagine that they hold all understanding in their own minds. Winston Churchill says, “A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.” It is depressing that he says ‘can’t change his mind.’ I guess it’s so narrow in his fanatical mind that there simply isn’t room to turn around a new idea?  They certainly will rant long and hard on their verisimilitude.

Whatever your faith, kindness and consideration are the only components of value. Respecting others and striving to be the best you can be is the greatest journey of faith. We can only hope that time will bring wisdom to us all. With luck, it will also bring a hefty portion of patience for dealing with the adamantly ignorant who live in a black and white world. I prefer to live in colour. The world is so much more beautiful in colour than in black and white!