There are many point of views regarding November the 4th’s case in Indonesia, that happened to be a big issue for many concerned people lately.
A few thinkers have come up with useful ways of thinking about the beliefs we have and the harm they can cause, and what responsibilities go along with having them. Meanwhile, others have argued that we can sometimes hold beliefs without any proof.
We live in a world that could probably use a lot more epistemic responsibility, or at least, more people who understand what it is. Because the world is full of people who hold beliefs without any evidence. And not only that, they encourage others to share their beliefs. That could be dangerous when you spread an idea that might lead to an apocalypse.
Normally, when we talk about responsibility, we’re talking about things that we have to do. Some people have argued that we all have epistemic responsibility, that is responsibility we have regarding our beliefs. What to do with each people’s beliefs and one have to think about the domino effect – especially for others – to keep the world in peace.
When you adopt a belief, you have options. And the nature of those options can basically determine the moral defensibility of the beliefs you end up holding.
– William James
Specifically, he said that the options you face when choosing a belief could be either; live or dead, forced or unforced, and momentous or trivial.
You face a live option when you’re considering a belief that you could see yourself having.
On the other hand, there’ll be dead option when you’re considering a belief that you couldn’t actually see yourself having.
Now, a forced option is one in which whatever you do, you’ve made a choice. And you can’t choose. “Stay in or go out” is a good example of a forced option. You have to do one or the other; you can’t wait and decide later. Because, as you wait to decide, you’ve stayed in and thus, you have made your choice.
But, unforced options are those when you’re not forced to make a choice and where you can just opt out of choosing. You can always just decide to have neither, so your choice is unforced option.
A momentous option is one that, if you choose it, stands the chance of radically changing your life for the better. Meanwhile, the trivial option is either way not gonna radically make a huge difference in your life.
James also said that;
If you’re considering whether to believe something for which there’s not sufficient evidence, it’s permissible to still believe it… so long as it’s a live, forced, and momentous options.
Religious beliefs just happens to fill all of those criteria. Believing in God it’s a live option for yourself and a whole lot of other people. Withholding judgement is the same as not believing – so you either believe in God, or you don’t – which makes it a forced option. Religious belief is also a momentous option because it has the possibility to greatly improve your life better. It concludes that we are justified in believing in God in the absence of the evidence through faith alone.
That philosophy actually can’t just make all of the baseless beliefs in the world go away, but it can help you argue against those ideas intelligently.
The Qur’an itself has a surah specifically told us to;
Iqra!
To pray for forgiveness
To learn the vast amount of knowledge
To know what the future has in store for you
To seek the sole pleasure from God
To reap the fruits of what God has given us
To understand the principle of Islam
To love.Al-‘Alaq 96
We live in a tiny world in a limitless universe. Why don’t we all – as a human – respect other’s belief and live with it?
ingénue 