Belief…
I had the most interesting conversation yesterday. After unloading a truck, I got to talking with the driver. As we spoke, he mentioned that he was Christian and that he had discovered religion when he was in his 20’s. As a non religious person, I’m always curious about people’s beliefs, especially in these crazy times. For example, how people are less afraid of a virus that has killed a half a million humans in the last 12 months than they are of the medicine to prevent those deaths.
As he spoke, he said something that sparked more curiosity. I asked, “With respect and no judgement, man, are you a flat earther?” He confirmed he was.
Immediately, and again, I wish I had my recorder, we got to talking about it. He believes in creation, he believes the moon emits its own light, he thinks the moon landings were a hoax, he believes the sun orbits the earth, which would support why there is a day and night in a flat earth scenario. He believes that the treaty that protects Antarctica from any one country staking a claim on the continent, is a military conspiracy to keep people from knowing the truth that the earth is flat, despite there being full time scientific studies occurring there.
To say there was a high level of dissonance for me would be an understatement. I just couldn’t connect with what he was saying at all. I asked if he believed that the moon was a sphere, he did, but explained that the earth was flat because that is how god created it. He believes that the sun and the moon are the same size. “All you have to do is look at the sky to notice that”. I explained that this is the case because our Sun is 150 million kilometres away while the moon is only 385,000 kilometres. It’s called perspective. But since he didn’t believe the Solar System was as big as we’re told, the similar size of those celestial bodies made sense to him.
It then occurred to me that the dissonance I felt with what he was saying was identical to what he thought about my ideas. I find that so fascinating. As a science minded, logical and moderately educated guy, I believe and trust in science. One can see the curvature of the earth from an aircraft. We have satellites orbiting our planet as well as an international space station that, if the timing is right, can been identified from the ground with the naked eye. I believe that the Universe, as a construct, is eternal and that the “Big Bang” is just one in a series of events that has been occurring for, well, forever. I believe that we evolved from fungus over hundreds of millions of years and the emergence of life can be easily explained by the theory of evolution.
My main point here is that the human experience is as unique as our fingerprints and what one person believes may not be what you believe. Is he wrong? Well, through the lens I look at the world through, yes he is. I believe that this kind and courteous man has fallen down one to many conspiratorial rabbit holes and has lost sight of the natural world around him. Do I believe in God or some other higher power? No, I don’t.
Regardless of all of this, we had a civil, respectful and open conversations about our beliefs and it was very enjoyable. I told him so. He agreed. He said that he doesn’t share his beliefs with many people and that it felt good to talk openly about it with me, without judgement. I think there’s a lesson here. Converse openly and without judgement. If we do that, we might learn to become more compassionate and understanding.
