And because we cannot see our futures
We have manufactured a belief system.
This belief system resonates deep within the core of our souls.
It is a part of our self-identity; our place in the universe.
We believe it.
We believe in it.
And we will defend it.
We bow to the altars of demagogues who proclaim to share a profoundly deeper, more intimate knowledge of THE SOURCE.
They help us comport and refine our belief toward a better understanding of the reasons, underpinnings, and methods of existence.
We treat our belief – our dogma – as fact; natural laws to which all beings are bound.
These make life and the world easy to understand, predict, and quantify with absolute certainty (provided one has THE FAITH).
We cherry-pick life for "data" – those small parts of events that reinforce our belief.
All inconsistencies are simply the necessary and inherent mysteries that serve to test the faithful and weed out the unworthy; the exception that proves the rule.
And yes, of course, there must be villains: charlatans and infidels in our story.
The charlatans abuse our beliefs to their own ends, stapling costly codicils to the contracts of our faith.
The infidels, of course, have never seen the light.
Perhaps they’ve always lived in darkness.
Or, perhaps the infidels bask in a false and perverted light of a foreign-looking charlatan (for really, aren’t they all?)
These who do not share my beliefs will always be OUTSIDERS.
They are ignorant.
They cannot be trusted.
Not until they accept the obvious and absolute truth of THE FAITH.
Such is my duty to evangelize.
But that’s enough talk about economics. Let’s talk about religion instead.