Thursday, December 01, 2005
DE OMNIBUS DUBITANDUM
A Three Minute Play:
DE OMNIBUS DUBITANDUM,
(Descartes: Doubt Everything.)
By Wally Weet
THE REVEREND
Believe, my son, Believe everything in the Bible. It is God’s Word.
WALLY
Really? I always think, Who should we believe? A preacher who demands unthinking faith or a French philosopher who demands that we think?
THE REVEREND
Wallace, how can you trust your puny brain’s efforts against 2,000 years of Christian tradition which tells us about the presence of Almighty God through his Son, Jesus Christ as told in the Bible?
WALLACE
But how can I believe all that is true?
THE REVEREND
Wallace do you think you know better than the millions and millions of people in hundreds of years before you? They have known the truth and believed it was true. Do you think you know more than they?
WALLACE
But how did they know it was true?
THE REVEREND
Because great and wise holy men told them it was true, because the Bible is true, because the Bible is God’s sacred word.”
WALLACE
But how do I know the Bible is God’s sacred word?
THE REVEREND
Because God told us it was his word.
WALLACE
Where does it say that?
THE REVEREND
In the Bible, the words of the Bible tell us when you read them that these are the words of God.
WALLACE
How do I know a man didn’t write that?
THE REVEREND
Ah, you see, Wallace, this is the point: You must have faith.
WALLACE
I must simply believe that God spoke to a man?
THE REVEREND
Yes. God speaks to us. That is faith.
WALLACE
Some would say it is insanity to believe you hear the voice of God speaking to you.
THE REVEREND
O Wally, I knew you would say that. You say that because you have no faith. And because you have no faith you are lost. You will spend eternity in hell.
WALLACE
Hell? How do I know there is a place called hell?
THE REVEREND
Again, Because God said so, because it is in the Bible, because wise Holy men for 2,000 years have told us so.
WALLACE
Faith? . This is all circular reasoning. No, it’s not even that. Faith? Accepting anything you say, that’s faith. Like, such and such is true because God told us so, we know God told us because Holy men have told us God told us. How can we know God told us because somebody said so? Because it is in the Bible. And because God told some man that the Bible are Gods own words. None of this makes sense.”
THE REVEREND
Right! You got it! It is not about thinking. You cannot depend on thinking which is why you must have faith.
WALLACE
But billions of people who are not Christians do not believe in any God or Heaven or Hell.”
Buddhists, Chinese. People who revere their ancestors. People wh..
THE REVEREND
They are wrong and they are without faith.
WALLACE
They have faith in their own view of life and the spirit.
THE REVEREND
But they are wrong. They will be lost and spend eternity in hell with all the other thinkers and doubters.
WALLACE
They believe there is no hell.
THE REVEREND
Wallace, if you are smart, don’t trust yourself to think you know everything. Copper your bets just in case you are wrong. Any one who has no faith? What I tell them is that the least they can do is copper their bets, prepare against error, be ready to accept Christ before they die so they don’t spend eternity in hell.”
WALLACE
But hell and heaven are just fantasies. Is it true faith to believe just in case? ...to not believe, but to sort of accept your story in case?”
THE REVEREND
It is a beginning. It’s the smarter way.
WALLACE
Not to me. No. It is like accepting slavery just in case you fear you won’t be able to support yourself.
What about seeking truth through learning, thru history and experience rather than through your questionable authority?
THE REVEREND
If my authority is questionable and you have no faith? Wallace, Without faith you are lost.
WALLACE
Circular. Always circular. Always the same message: Stop thinking. And I tell you there is another way to live in contentment without fear of eternity. A way that involves both thinking and faith.
THE REVEREND
I don’t think we have anything else to say to each other, Wallace. Your views are impossible. How do you even begin to challenge the Judeo Christian -the Muslim!- traditions? The wisdom, the insight, the knowledge of God’s word?
WALLACE
You’re right. You are right. We’ve nothing to say because the way to begin to challenge your so called tradition is by not brainwashing our children. By teaching them to question everything. By letting them see that there are other lively spiritual traditions. And most importantly having them learn the real facts about who they are and where they are from.
THE REVEREND
They are the children of Father God, stopping here on their way to eternal life. Or punishment.
That is who we ALL are.
WALLACE
No. Not true, Rev. A false myth. The facts, the real, true facts are different.”
THE REVEREND
And what are these real facts? And, Wallace, where do I find these facts?
WALLACE
The real and authentic and literal facts are in the Story of StarStuff. And you’ll find them in the rocks, the DNA, the story of the cosmos.
THE REVEREND
Wallace, my boy, you think too much. You will never be saved.
END
DE OMNIBUS DUBITANDUM,
(Descartes: Doubt Everything.)
By Wally Weet
THE REVEREND
Believe, my son, Believe everything in the Bible. It is God’s Word.
WALLY
Really? I always think, Who should we believe? A preacher who demands unthinking faith or a French philosopher who demands that we think?
THE REVEREND
Wallace, how can you trust your puny brain’s efforts against 2,000 years of Christian tradition which tells us about the presence of Almighty God through his Son, Jesus Christ as told in the Bible?
WALLACE
But how can I believe all that is true?
THE REVEREND
Wallace do you think you know better than the millions and millions of people in hundreds of years before you? They have known the truth and believed it was true. Do you think you know more than they?
WALLACE
But how did they know it was true?
THE REVEREND
Because great and wise holy men told them it was true, because the Bible is true, because the Bible is God’s sacred word.”
WALLACE
But how do I know the Bible is God’s sacred word?
THE REVEREND
Because God told us it was his word.
WALLACE
Where does it say that?
THE REVEREND
In the Bible, the words of the Bible tell us when you read them that these are the words of God.
WALLACE
How do I know a man didn’t write that?
THE REVEREND
Ah, you see, Wallace, this is the point: You must have faith.
WALLACE
I must simply believe that God spoke to a man?
THE REVEREND
Yes. God speaks to us. That is faith.
WALLACE
Some would say it is insanity to believe you hear the voice of God speaking to you.
THE REVEREND
O Wally, I knew you would say that. You say that because you have no faith. And because you have no faith you are lost. You will spend eternity in hell.
WALLACE
Hell? How do I know there is a place called hell?
THE REVEREND
Again, Because God said so, because it is in the Bible, because wise Holy men for 2,000 years have told us so.
WALLACE
Faith? . This is all circular reasoning. No, it’s not even that. Faith? Accepting anything you say, that’s faith. Like, such and such is true because God told us so, we know God told us because Holy men have told us God told us. How can we know God told us because somebody said so? Because it is in the Bible. And because God told some man that the Bible are Gods own words. None of this makes sense.”
THE REVEREND
Right! You got it! It is not about thinking. You cannot depend on thinking which is why you must have faith.
WALLACE
But billions of people who are not Christians do not believe in any God or Heaven or Hell.”
Buddhists, Chinese. People who revere their ancestors. People wh..
THE REVEREND
They are wrong and they are without faith.
WALLACE
They have faith in their own view of life and the spirit.
THE REVEREND
But they are wrong. They will be lost and spend eternity in hell with all the other thinkers and doubters.
WALLACE
They believe there is no hell.
THE REVEREND
Wallace, if you are smart, don’t trust yourself to think you know everything. Copper your bets just in case you are wrong. Any one who has no faith? What I tell them is that the least they can do is copper their bets, prepare against error, be ready to accept Christ before they die so they don’t spend eternity in hell.”
WALLACE
But hell and heaven are just fantasies. Is it true faith to believe just in case? ...to not believe, but to sort of accept your story in case?”
THE REVEREND
It is a beginning. It’s the smarter way.
WALLACE
Not to me. No. It is like accepting slavery just in case you fear you won’t be able to support yourself.
What about seeking truth through learning, thru history and experience rather than through your questionable authority?
THE REVEREND
If my authority is questionable and you have no faith? Wallace, Without faith you are lost.
WALLACE
Circular. Always circular. Always the same message: Stop thinking. And I tell you there is another way to live in contentment without fear of eternity. A way that involves both thinking and faith.
THE REVEREND
I don’t think we have anything else to say to each other, Wallace. Your views are impossible. How do you even begin to challenge the Judeo Christian -the Muslim!- traditions? The wisdom, the insight, the knowledge of God’s word?
WALLACE
You’re right. You are right. We’ve nothing to say because the way to begin to challenge your so called tradition is by not brainwashing our children. By teaching them to question everything. By letting them see that there are other lively spiritual traditions. And most importantly having them learn the real facts about who they are and where they are from.
THE REVEREND
They are the children of Father God, stopping here on their way to eternal life. Or punishment.
That is who we ALL are.
WALLACE
No. Not true, Rev. A false myth. The facts, the real, true facts are different.”
THE REVEREND
And what are these real facts? And, Wallace, where do I find these facts?
WALLACE
The real and authentic and literal facts are in the Story of StarStuff. And you’ll find them in the rocks, the DNA, the story of the cosmos.
THE REVEREND
Wallace, my boy, you think too much. You will never be saved.
END
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This reminds me a bit of Abbott and Costello''s "Who''s on First"
sketch. It is true and it is funny because it is true.
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sketch. It is true and it is funny because it is true.
# posted by 
: 2:59 AM
: 2:59 AM << Home
