BELIEF IS THE DEATH OF INTELLIGENCE One day a man walked through the doors of a local church and sat

down. He looked around and saw people kneeling, praying and confessing their sins. He looked at all the statues of saints, saw priests walking, and stared at the huge Jesus Christ cross hanging in front of him, in the center of the stage. After a couple minutes of observing, he decided to enter a confession room and talk with a minister. He sat in a small room waiting for the pastor to start talking. The pastor asked him what he wanted to confess and the man sat there in silence for a minute. Then, the man asked the priest, If Jesus Christ is our savior, why has he not saved us yet?, What is he waiting for? The minister didnt say anything he just listened to the man as he went on asking, If God created everything, does that not mean he created all the evil in this world, too? Why does he allow the Devil to torment our lives daily?, Why does God allow all the killings to happen? Why do we believe in a book that was written by men? How do we know if everything that was written, is true? Why do we believe in a talking snake, a red evil entity with horns and a pitchfork that is waiting for all the bad people on the Earth, down in the depths of Hell? Father, dont you ever think that everything we know may be wrong? Why do we need faith? The priest thought about what to say and then responded with, All of this is part of Gods plan. I do not have the answers to all your questions but ask God and he will answer them. The man went home disappointed. He walked into his house and lay down on his bed. On his bed, he started thinking about everything he had asked and what the minister had said. The man asked God the same questions but no answers came to his head. The man continued asking and waiting until he realized for himself that everything he knew about the universe, the world, and life was wrong. All he knew for sure was that he didnt know anything for sure. All he knew for sure is that he knew nothing. But that was something. From doubt he began to build his own conclusions about the mystery of life. He knew that he couldnt solve all the mysteries, secrets and riddles of the universe but he knew that if he stayed in suspended judgment, he would be able to maintain himself in the may be section of knowing, which is the most accurate rather than in the absolute knowing which he was not in. He started noticing that most people were full of themselves when it came to the answers of life. He tested them by asking them what they believed in. Naturally, most people believe in one thing or another so he demonstrated to them that when they believed in something they renounced believing in the opposite of their beliefs. He showed them that their convictions caused them to become convicts of their own beliefs. He would finish each conversation with, why do I need to believe when I know? Years, later he became a lecturer travelling around the world talking about his ideas and his slogan that read, The Map is not the Territory. Basically that means that the words we use to describe anything are not the things that we are describing but descriptions of the things we are trying to describe. He learned that most people confuse the menu with the meal; we tend to confuse the words with the things described and enough people have dogmatic beliefs, which means believing in something without evidence. Finally one day, a young man came up and asked the philosopher, Why do you spend your time travelling around the world so people can hear what you have to say?, Why do you not just live and let live?, the thinker answered, I feel an urge to open peoples minds and try to change the way they view life. The young man replied, Why would you do that? If I were you, Id just let all the stupid people die with their stupid ideas. Then the wise man looked at the young boy and said, Everything

needs a balance, and I think I play a part in balancing out the extremities, dont you think? The young kid responded, I dont know. I dont think, I believe and I have faith.