Strong Opinions, Loosely Held Poster
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"By their fruits you shall know them."
But maybe don’t look at all their “fruits.” Or ask too many questions. Are we sure rambutans weren’t the forbidden fruit? In my former religion, the most forbidden fruit is skepticism. The most glorified, blind faith.
I now know that skepticism isn't about destroying all of the magic. It's about distinguishing between the smoke and mirrors and legitimate wonders.
🛸 Ships within 2-3 days
"By their fruits you shall know them."
But maybe don’t look at all their “fruits.” Or ask too many questions. Are we sure rambutans weren’t the forbidden fruit? In my former religion, the most forbidden fruit is skepticism. The most glorified, blind faith.
I now know that skepticism isn't about destroying all of the magic. It's about distinguishing between the smoke and mirrors and legitimate wonders.
🛸 Ships within 2-3 days
"By their fruits you shall know them."
But maybe don’t look at all their “fruits.” Or ask too many questions. Are we sure rambutans weren’t the forbidden fruit? In my former religion, the most forbidden fruit is skepticism. The most glorified, blind faith.
I now know that skepticism isn't about destroying all of the magic. It's about distinguishing between the smoke and mirrors and legitimate wonders.
Strong Opinions, Loosely Held - The Essay
“In order to seek truth, it is necessary once in the course of our life, to doubt, as far as possible, of all things.”
-René Descartes
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The other day I ate a rambutan while high. If there is a heaven, it’s got to have rambutans and the devil’s lettuce. This slice of heaven was made possible for me by skepticism. Let me explain.
I was taught as a child that blind faith is virtuous. My faith dictated that Cannabis was wrong. Believing and obeying was what made us good. My self-worth was graded by my perceived usefulness to God and his organization.
Growing up, skepticism was always portrayed as negative. Skeptics were the doubters and the downers. The ones ruining all the magic. The ones that would end up alone and sad before eventually changing their minds and returning to the faith.
When I finally recognized the house of cards that was my former religion, I began to slowly dip my toe into skepticism. It started as a protection mechanism. I didn’t want to be deceived again. The risk was too high. You can drop your brain through a cheese grater only so many times.
As I deconstructed and reconstructed my beliefs, I began to recognize patterns. Ironically, it was one of my former religion's own scriptures that gave me a framework for skepticism: "By their fruits you shall know them." This teaching urged followers to evaluate people and systems by their outcomes.
When I applied this principle to examine my religion's own “fruits” and others, the results showed their true colors. And it wasn’t pretty. Wielding power for the sexual conquest of women and abuse of young girls, blatant racism, suicide epidemics, LGBTQ discrimination, just to name a few. This evidence-based evaluation became my first step toward embracing skepticism. So I worked to strip my preconceived notions about skepticism, specifically with religion, and open myself to learning more about it.
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