Skepticism and the Truth

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Often I am a skeptic. I’m skeptical about politicians, the news coverage of some topics and many other things. Skeptic Magazine defines modern skepticism as being embodied in the scientific method that involves gathering data to formulate and test naturalistic explanations for natural phenomena.1 With this definition of skepticism, God cannot exist because God is not in naturalistic explanations. With this definition of skepticism, all evidence of God is thrown out and in its place naturalistic explanations are created to replace evidence of God or to discount evidence of God. I’m highly skeptical of this type of skeptic. This sad type of skepticism is out to prove what this type of skeptic wants to prove/disprove and not discover the truth. You cannot be this type of skeptic and test your faith because in being this type of skeptic, you are keeping yourself in a box and are too afraid to look over your box’s top and see the truth.

 

 

One huge naturalistic explanation of modern skepticism is the foolish theory of Darwinian evolution which isn’t proven but is often taught and talked of as truth. I’m a huge skeptic of Darwinian evolution as there is no proof for it; only theory without any evidence. Let’s go beyond saying that I am a skeptic of Darwinian evolution and say that I know for fact that it is false and not in the least bit true. The modern skeptic however says it is true and does so without any evidence whatsoever. You see, if you tell people something enough times and say that it is true, some people will actually believe you and will take your word for it. That’s what those who say Darwinian evolution is true do, say it over and over again and again as though it is true so that you will think it is because they know that you will not check out their so called, “facts and findings.”

 

 

Now there is evidence of evolution of virus evolving into a variation of a virus in a slightly different form from the original but it is still a virus. The same with all evolution we have witnessed is that the same kind varies over some time to be a slightly different version of the same kind; i.e., fish is still a fish. There is however no evidence whatsoever to support Darwinian evolution to prove that from a single cell life form, multiple cell life forms came to become life forms that became trees, fish, animals and people. That’s just not bright of anyone to believe!

 

 

Modern skepticism reminds me of a story of three men who were blind checking out an elephant that I heard a long time ago when I was growing up. The three men wanted to know what an elephant looked like and one day they got their chance to find out. Below is the story for you to read. As you read it, think of this, how would you find out what the elephant’s shape is if you were one of the blind men in the story?

 

 

"Three Blind Men and an Elephant"1

One day, three blind men happened to meet each other and gossiped a long time about many things. Suddenly one of them recalled, "I heard that an elephant is a queer animal. Too bad we're blind and can't see it."

"Ah, yes, truly too bad we don't have the good fortune to see the strange animal," another one sighed.

 

The third one, quite annoyed, joined in and said, "See? Forget it! Just to feel it would be great."

 

"Well, that's true. If only there were some way of touching the elephant, we'd be able to know," they all agreed.

 

It so happened that a merchant with a herd of elephants was passing, and overheard their conversation. "You fellows, do you really want to feel an elephant? Then follow me; I will show you," he said.

 

The three men were surprised and happy. Taking one another's hand, they quickly formed a line and followed while the merchant led the way. Each one began to contemplate how he would feel the animal, and tried to figure how he would form an image.

 

After reaching their destination, the merchant asked them to sit on the ground to wait. In a few minutes he led the first blind man to feel the elephant. With outstretched hand, he touched first the left foreleg and then the right. After that he felt the two legs from the top to the bottom, and with a beaming face, turned to say, "So, the queer animal is just like that." Then he slowly returned to the group.

 

Thereupon the second blind man was led to the rear of the elephant. He touched the tail which wagged a few times, and he exclaimed with satisfaction, "Ha! Truly a queer animal! Truly odd! I know now. I know." He hurriedly stepped aside.

 

The third blind man's turn came, and he touched the elephant's trunk which moved back and forth turning and twisting and he thought, "That's it! I've learned."

 

The three blind men thanked the merchant and went their way. Each one was secretly excited over the experience and had a lot to say, yet all walked rapidly without saying a word.

 

"Let's sit down and have a discussion about this queer animal," the second blind man said, breaking the silence.

 

"A very good idea. Very good." the other two agreed for they also had this in mind.

Without waiting for anyone to be properly seated, the second one blurted out, "This queer animal is like our straw fans swinging back and forth to give us a breeze. However, it's not so big or well made. The main portion is rather wispy."

 

"No, no!" the first blind man shouted in disagreement. "This queer animal resembles two big trees without any branches."

 

"You're both wrong." the third man replied. "This queer animal is similar to a snake; it's long and round, and very strong."

 

How they argued! Each one insisted that he alone was correct. Of course, there was no conclusion for not one had thoroughly examined the whole elephant. How can anyone describe the whole until he has learned the total of the parts.

 

 

How could the three men have missed the total of the parts of the elephant so much that they missed knowing the appearance of the elephant? They had an abundance of evidence as they had their hands actually touching the elephant. There was even a heard of elephants near them so they should have also been able to feel the power of the elephant’s walk and hear the elephant’s feet pounding the ground with each step. The merchant was there and I’m sure if asked, would have answered any questions they would have asked him. If asked, the merchant could have taken them each around the whole elephant so that they could each touch it in different places. They had a perfect opportunity to discover what they so wanted to know, so how could they have missed finding out the shape of the elephant?

 

 

These men missed out on knowing what the elephant looked like because they each were in their own little box and did not want to come out of it because they each trusted solely in himself. They each overlooked an abundance of evidence which was right before them and some of that evidence was even in their hands because they were not bright enough to do further research to find the truth. These men were skeptical of the others description and narrow mindedly disregarded all but their own because they throughout evidence they did not want to hear. The paradox each of these men placed themselves into kept them from discovering the elephant’s shape.

 

So are you ready to test your faith; or are you going to be like the men in the story above and not know the truth? It is your choice to make and only your choice to make. I suggest that you make a wise choice and seek the truth.


1) Skeptic Magazine Volume 14 No. 2 2008 – page 5.

2) Kuo, Louise and Kuo, Yuan-Hsi (1976), "Chinese Folk Tales," Celestial Arts: 231 Adrian Road, Millbrae, CA 94030 pp. 83-85.

 

 

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