Can I Ask You Something?

When was the last time you asked a good question?

Why is loving a God you have never seen easier than loving someone you see as different than you? Why are we more willing to accept a survival of the fittest belief than build cooperation with one another beyond survival? These are not rhetorical questions. They are critical ones.

The answers we get in life are only as good as the questions we ask. When was the last time you asked a good question instead of defending the answers you think you already know? Arrogance asks questions of others. Wisdom asks questions of ourselves. Inquiry is the righteous path to truth.

I’m Right, You’re Wrong

According to the infamous psychologist, Jean Piaget, information takes two paths in our brain. We file it with similar information, or we create a new file for it. Creating new files is the process of learning. Unfortunately, many people learn at the lowest level because they filter everything through their level of comfort.

Instead of learning to understand, we judge. We learn stereotypes and misattributions that do not require any change in us. Instead of questioning our beliefs, we strengthen them with assumptions of superiority. When we are in positions of power, we often create rules and policies to substantiate our assumed superiority.

In walks God

In walks God, the ultimate reason to hold any position. At some point on my spiritual journey, I began studying Buddhism. I was drawn to it because it is not a religion, rather “a way of life.” I had long questioned the ethics of Christianity. Christian crusades, holy wars, and the justification of slavery imposed too much cognitive dissonance for me.

Too many rules and too much persecution made me suspicious of using the Holy Bible for spiritual guidance. It felt anti-everything except white male dominance. Women had to submit, homosexuality was spurned, abortion was sinful, and dark people were cursed. As a child who wanted so deeply to be loved by God, I found only questions of “Our Father.”

Buddha to the rescue

I thought my heart would rest easier in the peace of Buddhism. However, a careful examination of the Buddhist texts, particularly The Kalachakra Tantra literature, reveals both external and internal levels of battle that could easily be called “holy wars” (Berzin). Buddhism was not nearly as peaceful as I had assumed.

Why are humans so drawn to conflict? Of all the things to fight about, God should not be one of them. God has nothing to do with how we are treating each other or the world.

Buddha is not in competition with Christ. Nor is either in competition with Allah or any other Deity. People, men, in particular, compete for their own unholy reasons. “Holy war” is an oxymoron.

Man makes God in his image

The rational question is, did man make God in his image? The problem with that question is the Hegelian Dialectic. We don’t get to ask that question because it is blasphemy.

Hegelian Dialectic is when a problem is created that dictates a response and solution by the same entity that created the problem in the first place. For centuries religion has defended its assumptions about God by defining God.

Most religious people will become angered or confused about my assertion because they will interpret it as an assault on God. They cannot distinguish between God and religion because they are caught in the Hegelian Dialect. I am not, so I will continue to pose questions about humanity that include religious assumptions.

Evolution supports religion

Evolution theorists are no different. They defend what men have created. Evolution asserts humans have always lived in conflict. It does not acknowledge a time where men and women were equal and harmonious.

The survival of the fittest theory places women in roles as equally inferior to men. It validates women’s assignment to babymaker and caregiver as well as justifies male aggression. “Fitness refers not to an organism’s strength or athletic ability, but rather the ability to survive and reproduce” (Than).

This demand for reproduction has fueled human conflict for thousands of years through both religion and science ideology. As long as we only have religion or evolution to choose from, we never get to the critical questions of gender roles.

Inquire Within

If you are familiar with my writing, you know I am not invested in whether you agree with me. I am asking you to be brave enough to question the answers and explanations in the world you have been given. Do not mistake familiarity with accuracy. Resist the urge to seek comfort rather than truth.

I am not offering alternative answers. I’m offering questions to the dangerous answers we have been given. We must take the questions more seriously than solutions. Solutions are multifaceted. If we constantly derive solutions that serve a particular population while compromising others' autonomy, we do not ask critical questions.

You Are as Big as the Questions You Ask

Questions shouldn’t be limited to religion and politics. We should be open to questioning the impact the world has on us and vice versa. All summer long, I watched parents express anxiety about whether schools would open in the fall. I saw very few parents question their relationship with education. We’ve accepted one way for children to learn. Whether that way is safe or effective is irrelevant.

Growing skepticism

We have adopted parenting styles, gender roles, and marriage rituals that often do more harm than good. When these practices fail, we criticize the people and defend the practices. What’s wrong with my child/spouse/students is a much more common question than what’s wrong with the system.

Every time I see headlines about the achievement of African Americans, I cringe a little. Most stories point in the wrong direction, such as “Madeline Swegle becomes US Navy’s first Black female fighter pilot in its 110-year history.” These stories are written as if African Americans finally evolved into greatness.

The truth is that the United States is evolving into greatness each time it creates room for success for someone other than those who wrote all of the rules. Since we haven’t been taught to question the rules, stories of achievement do not address the tormented past of oppression.

What if the above headline read, “The US Navy opens its door to a Black female fighter pilot for the first time in its 110-year history?” That’s a very different statement that would more clearly question the US and its Navy's history.

One Question at a Time

Some wrongs cannot be made right. But inquiry is a good place to start to make the world better. When I discuss my hope for the world, I have been told often that human conflict is natural and that it will always exist. Yet, I’ve never asked whether human conflict will always exist. I ask how we can make humans behave more cooperatively.

Throughout history, human beings have studied the impossible. I wonder who the first person imagined human beings flying through continents in a humongous sky tank. The Wright brothers were not the first person who imagined an airplane. They were just the first person who made one work well enough to lead to an industry.

Humans are good at manifesting realities. We can manifest the evolution of the human heart as well as we can manifest machines. If we can get robots to mimic human behaviors, we can develop godly behavior (not doctrine). I know that manifesting starts with belief and work. I wake up daily to do both. What question will you ask today to raise human vibration?

References

Berzin, A. Study Buddhism. https://studybuddhism.com/en/advanced-studies/history-culture/buddhism-islam/holy-wars-in-buddhism-and-islam

Than, K. (2018). What is Darwin’s Theory of Evolution? Live Science. https://www.livescience.com/474-controversy-evolution-works.html

Yancey-Bragg, N. (2020). Madeline Swegle becomes US Navy’s first Black female fighter pilot in its 110-year history. USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/07/13/madeline-swegle-becomes-navys-first-black-female-fighter-pilot/5426566002/