Credo Paper
Everyone has a core set of beliefs that dictates how they should lead their lives. These core beliefs are usually molded by one’s upbringings and personal experiences, and as such they can be readily modified as new information presents itself. As a college student, soon to take the next step into adulthood, I think it is important to not only define my core set of beliefs but also challenge them to make sure they hold up against any personal experiences I may have had or will have. In order for me to define my core beliefs, I must first identify where these beliefs stem from. In my case, I was born a devout Sikh, and as such I adhere to the three pillars of Sikhism which include: living honestly, meditating, and giving back to the community. Even though I don’t currently associate myself to any religion these three pillars have been an integral part in shaping my core beliefs. However as I have grown older and have had a chance to experience the world for myself I have formed beliefs that deviate from the core teachings of Sikhism. My core beliefs today are a culmination of the beliefs of Sikhism as well as my experiences.
Taking a look at my characteristically Sikh childhood and surroundings, one may deduce that my parents forced the Sikh faith upon me, and therefore I had no personal say in the formation of my religious beliefs. This could not be farther from the truth. I was introduced to the Sikh faith at a very young age and as such many of the Sikh ideals have become an integral part of my life, but that is not to say that I have not taken the time to question the teachings of Sikhism and formulate my own decisions about these ideals. For example, Sikhism has a strong belief that after we die we reincarnate and our soul is carried over into another life. My contention is that when we die neither our soul nor our body is carried into another life and that we cease to exist both spiritually and physically. However, just as my parents did, I hope to one day raise a family, and I too will have my children adopt the Sikh faith not because I am a devout Sikh, but because the Sikh faith has a great moral base on which I can raise my children. The Sikh faith preaches living honestly, meditating, giving back to others, and loving your family which are things that all human beings should include in their moral code regardless of their faith. I simply want to use Sikhism as a tool to instill a basic moral code for my children, and then as they grow older I want to give them the liberty to choose the path of religious faith (if any path at all) that they want to follow.
I believe in God because without God we would not be able to explain the inherit randomness of the world. Consider the following scenario; a man jumps out of plane in hopes to finally fulfill his lifelong dream to skydive. There he is at 4,000 feet ready to deploy his main parachute when for some reason whether it be because the main canopy doesn’t come out of the bag, or perhaps it doesn’t inflate, he has a canopy that he cannot use to land safely. At first the man doesn’t panic because he knows that in the unlikely event that his main chute doesn’t open, he can always resort to his reserve chute. So there he is, now at 3000 feet, ready to deploy his reserve chute when he realizes that his reserve chute does not deploy. At this point, the man knows that he can do nothing but face eminent death. Physics tells us that if a man is traveling in free fall from 4000 feet that he will hit the ground at a speed of 155m/s, or 346mph. Common sense tells us that any man that hits the ground with a speed of 346mph will die, however just three years ago a man placed in this exact scenario survived with a broken ankle and a collapsed lung. A broken ankle and a collapsed lung: people sustain these injuries from pickup basketball games, not free falling out of an airplane 4000 feet off the ground. However, we hear of miracles like this every day, where despite impossible odds people escape eminent death. We can try to explain these miracles with our current knowledge of the physical world; however it just isn’t possible because miracles like this one would not be possible without the guidance of God. All miracles and other unexplainable acts have a direct relation to God himself, and without God these events would not be possible. I believe in a God that is beyond color and form, is all loving, and is all powerful. To truly understand God and his work, we must go beyond scholarship and embrace devotion. However, even through devotion we will never be able to fully comprehend the workings of God.
Marriage is a test of your commitment, not only to your spouse, but also to God. Marriage is supposed to be a spiritual union of love and devotion where the thought of separation is not fathomable. However today people get married on whims in order to improve their social and economic statuses, and as such they are just as quick to dispose of their marriage in a lawyer’s office. Over the last 50 years the divorce rate in the United States has increased 45 fold. Divorce is no longer considered a tragedy rather an integral and almost inevitable part of life. What people forget, however, is that, marriage is not an institution created by man, it is an institution created by God. God created marriage to see if you can devout yourself fully to something other than yourself. God knows that if you are unable to commit yourself fully to your spouse then there is no way that you can commit yourself fully to your God and your faith. A strong, unfaltering commitment between two spouses can only be present if the spouse’s truly “love” one another, not only in spoken word but also in loving actions. Whether it be something as small as remembering your spouse’s birthday, or something as large as sleeping sitting up in a hospital room for two months, without any regard for visiting hours, as your spouse battles a deadly disease: love should be apparent in all actions.
Atheists often argue that an all knowing, all loving God cannot exist, because why would such a God create evil. I think the reason God created evil is because evil invites good and therefore results in good. No one can argue that 9/11 wasn’t one of the worst atrocities in the past decade, however through all that evil, there was so much good that became prevalent. 9/11 brought about a swell of community support, togetherness, and general positive demonstrations of humanity that were otherwise unprecedented. When I asked my mom about her experience with 9/11 she said “I found myself talking to more friends and family in the days after 9/11 than ever before. I would randomly say hello to people that I had never met before and they would say hello right back. People were looking after each other, helping each other, and meeting up with each other. You know, being neighborly. People were just more aware.” It was through this heightened sense of humanism that we were able to keep alive the very virtues and values that make us who we are. Although 9/11 caused a great deal of suffering upon countless Americans, it also sought to make possible future good for the rest of mankind, namely the war on terror as well as a call for patriotic fervor. Not only do I realize that evil creates good but I think that evil is necessary in order to appreciate good. I think Dr. Millers example in class explained it best. Dr. Miller said that his favorite color was blue, but if the only color in the world was blue then blue would no longer be his favorite color, because he would have no other colors to compare the blue too. Good and evil share a similar relationship. If there was no evil in the world, all actions would be the same and thus we would be unable to discern which actions are good. This is why we need evil in order to appreciate good.
Humans are not able to obtain self-actualization, or an understanding of the transcendent, with first fulfilling our humanistic needs. This belief stems almost entirely from Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Maslow, a 20th century psychologist, said that in order for humans to reach self-actualization, they must first meet certain needs including: physiological needs, safety needs, love/belonging needs, and esteem needs. By physiological needs, Maslow means our most basic needs such as food, water, air, and sleep. Safety needs include security of body, resources, employment, and other property. Love/belonging needs include the need for friendship, family, and sexual intimacy. Finally, esteem needs presents the desire for humans to be accepted and valued by others. This hierarchy is most often displayed as a pyramid. The lowest levels of the pyramid are made up of the most basic needs, while the more complex needs are located at the top of the pyramid. Once these lower-level needs have been met, people can move on to the next level of needs. Thus in order for one to attain self-actualization one must first fulfill all subsequent needs which, as mentioned above, include: physiological needs, safety needs, love/belonging needs, and esteem needs. I believe this to be true because in order for you to attempt to comprehend the workings of God you must fully devout your mind and body to God. How could you possibly expect to become one with god with the constant distraction of having to put food on the table for you and your family? To understand god and his workings requires full, unwavering devotion to God.
My core beliefs stem from the teachings of Sikhism; however my personal experiences have led me to stray away from some of the teachings of Sikhism and adopt my own philosophies. I think regardless of which religion you adhere to you should still have a strong moral foundation, one which leads you to assist your fellow man and care for humanity in general. I also believe that after we die, neither our soul nor our body is carried into another life and that we die both spiritually and physically. I believe that God exists, because without god we would be unable to explain the inherit randomness in the world. I believe God created marriage as a test of people’s commitment, not only to their spouses’ but also to God. I believe that evil not only invites good and thus results in good but also evil is necessary to appreciate good. Finally I believe that in order for someone to practice their faith in the correct manor, they must first devout all their attention to fulfilling their humanistic needs, so that they may show the same unwavering devotion to god. I am really grateful for taking Theology 100 this semester not only because I have learned so much about the Jesuit Tradition and the teachings of Christianity, but because this course challenged me to look within myself and establish a set of core beliefs by which I run my life.