Believe and Achieve

I read an interesting blog on Myspace which inspired me to write my own piece. I hope to present both sides of the argument. The question is: does belief require action? That is to say, if you truly believe something does that mean the belief will impact our actions? Russ argues in his blog:

"If one claims that eating macaroni on Saturday is morally reprehensible, and yet they habitually chow down on its cheesy goodness, not only is that person a hypocrite, but s/he also demonstrates that s/he do[es] not sincerely believe in this moral standard. In the same way, if one believes that giving to the poor, or feeding the homeless is a morally right, but s/he never performs these tasks, it is as if s/he is saying that it is not good to do. It is the belief in the deed that is the catalyst of action. What good is it if you say to a starving man be blessed and well fed if you do not feed him and give him shelter? If one's beliefs do not affect his/her physical reality, then they are not beliefs at all; they are simply words."

We hear such platitudes as "practice what you preach" and how could we not lean towards thinking in this way. It seems that the world is unconvinced by your beliefs unless those beliefs impact the way you actually act. So the religious believer is only a believer to the extent that they actually follow the commands and requirements of their faith.

But what about the addict? The nicotine addict who knows the damage that can be done to their lungs and knows that smoking cessation would improve their life must not truly believe in that if they continue to smoke. I think we often think this way. It's our way of protecting ourselves from really caring for people who do things that are obviously bad for them. Because if they would just summon the mental energy to really believe then they would be able to quit. So how can we feel for them if we think that all it takes is a real, honest belief.

But to give a counterpoint I provide this example:
A young man of about 14 is being tested for mental retardation (never mind that this would be a very late diagnosis). The young man is not retarded but he is depressed and solemnly believes that if he could get placed in a special education class then his troubles would end because he hates his current school. They ask him, "What is 2 + 2?" He really knows that the answer is 4 but he says 5. He honestly believes that 2 + 2 = 4 but that belief does not manifest itself in his actions. Instead, the countering belief takes precedence. Now to suggest that the boy never believed 2 + 2 = 4 is ridiculous but his belief did not directly lead to action.

I would argue that belief does not correlate perfectly with action. For one, the world is often filled with opposing beliefs. We may believe in giving to the poor but we may also believe that our lives would be less satisfying if we have less money. Also, although this remains speculation, the belief sometimes cannot overcome habit. The addict believes that their addiction is hurting them but the physical craving makes them feel powerless to resist. I say it is merely speculation because we cannot get inside the mind of someone who is in the habit to do something. Even the individual themselves cannot be guaranteed to be aware of their full inner workings. Finally, sometimes the bodies own limitations cause us to perform below our beliefs. We have limited attention so the belief cannot remain active constantly. We have limited resources, physical needs, and habitual mental processes that prevent us from accomplishing our belief.

What does this mean for a person of faith? Well, the fact that you do not follow the rules of your faith constantly may not mean that you do not truly believe it (though in fact this may certainly be true). It means that a person may in fact believe but that belief may not be put into action. Now before you go patting yourself on the backs thinking that it's okay that you're not faithful, I would also add that the young man probably will be affected if he continues to say 2+2=5. You can't espouse lies and not be affected by them. Part of human nature is that we start to believe in what we do. In psychology it's called cognitive dissonance. If our actions don't match our beliefs, we adjust our beliefs. We may believe in things we do not act out but those beliefs will die off.

So as people of faith we must commit ourselves to renewing our resolve to dissolve our beliefs in opposing views and break out of our bad habits by making new, good habits. Hmm I have more to say about all of this but I'm afraid it might drag on a bit. Perhaps I will discuss it further in another blog. Questions? Comments? Concerns?