[Avodah] analytical thought and religion

[Micha Berger]

On Thu, Apr 26, 2012 at 10:10:19PM -0700, Saul.Z.Newman at kp.org wrote
to Areivim:
: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=losing-your-religion-analytic-thinking-can-undermine-belief

If the survey is conducted in an area where the predominant majority of
the population relate to religion in Xian terms, that would not surprise
me. We're talking about a culture where religious people are expected to
take a "leap of faith" or to "believe because it is absurd" (Tertullian,
as said culture misquotes him).

That said, we live after Kant, Salanter, Freud and Existentialism. The
notion that people make decisions based on rational argument has been
discredited. R Yehudah haLevi (Kuzari I) is generally accepted as
correct -- what any one philosopher can "prove" another can "prove"
the opposite. It inheres in the fact that for all the rigor of a proof,
it still rests on one's givens. And one's experience, proclivities and
negi'os change which givens you find self evident.

To quote my own aphorism:
    The mind is a wonderful organ
    for justifying conclusions
    the heart already reached.

It's the experience of Shabbos that convinces someone that the system
by which we get Shabbos is reliable. Shabbos is just one example, but
perhaps it and talmud Torah are by far the strongest cases. The internal
experience is a data point, one of our givens.

It is no more becoming frum because I like Shabbos than saying that I
accept that two lines with the same slope (in flat Euclidian space)
will not meet because I like the idea. It's not a matter of "like",
it's an a priori mental judgment.

The typical Kiruv worker still thinks Scholastically, that there is
some ultimate theological proof that would convince anyone willing to
really listen. And second, he is dealing with Westerners -- there is
a tendency today to expect our truths in sound bites. Between the two,
true education is difficult, instead there is marketing. Either he tries
to make an overly simple philosophical argument or he simply gives up on
thought and goes for the enjoyable experience -- liking Shabbos rather
than feeling its congruance with the needs of the soul.

Rationality is an assessment of the relationship of givens to a conclusion
-- if there is one. Not of the givens. People confuse rationalism with
metaphysical minimalism. They're both tools of the skeptic, but they
are not the same thing. It is fully rational to accept that Shabbos
must reflect a Truth, which implies things about the reliability of the
halachic process and the Torah.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Today is the 23rd day, which is
micha at aishdas.org        3 weeks and 2 days in/toward the omer.
http://www.aishdas.org   Gevurah sheb'Netzach: How does my domination
Fax: (270) 514-1507                            stifle others?