Mauvaise Foi

[Sophus]

Jean-Paul Sartre spoke of mauvaise foi, meaning bad faith, as a concept of when one acts inauthentically to deceive oneself. One of his examples, as Wikipedia describes it...

[A] café waiter, whose movements and conversation are a little too "waiter-esque". His voice oozes with an eagerness to please; he carries food rigidly and ostentatiously. His exaggerated behaviour illustrates that he is play acting as a waiter, as an object in the world: an automaton whose essence is to be a waiter. But that he is obviously acting belies that he is aware that he is not (merely) a waiter, but is rather consciously deceiving himself

In Hitchens' recent debate with Rabbi Schmuley he restated his hunch that many religious people don't really believe what they claim to believe. Recent studies have shown Americans say they're more religious than they really are. And, now, of course, Dan Dennett has been doing research on non-believing clergy.

Does this mean in the 21st century it is difficult to be religious without practicing bad faith? If so, then what really constitutes belief? I think children can truly be convinced of it. I was as a child, but after a while you just get really suspicious and annoyingly insecure.

[Inevitable Droid]

First, non-believing clergy aren't merely deceiving themselves - they're deceiving their congregations.  Many congregations would be appalled to learn that their pastors are for all intents and purposes atheists.

As for other Christians, well, I know one personally, a deacon in fact, who has confided in me that he's a Deist.  It wouldn't surprise me in the least to learn that Deism is rampant in the churches.

The problem Christianity has is the inherent illogic of its core propositions when evaluated from a skeptical perspective.  The edifice doesn't and can't hold up if subjected to ruthless questioning.  It isn't just the primary fact that faith has to be your epistemology before Christianity can work for you at all.  Even within the system, within the epistemology, the logic doesn't work.  Too often the Christian is just supposed to accept that God doesn't think like us - a euphemism for, God isn't logical.  

In the West, as more and more Christians are going to college and learning to test propositions logically, they apply what they've learned to Christianity, and immediately the edifice begins to crumble.

If Christianity wants to survive in the West, it will have to present a logical God.  In order to do that, it will have to disengage from the bible as God's word, since the bible lacks logical consistency if taken whole.  Once the bible is allowed to be seen as inspired but errant, such that, portions can be rejected while other portions are retained, a logical God can be presented, justified by portions of the bible that are logically consistent with one another.  Denominations will then arise, defined precisely by which portions of the bible they retain and which they reject.  

Hopefully one of the new Denominations will be genuinely Univeralist, as Universalism is the most humane, benign, reasonable and cordial theology available to Christianity.  Under the Universalist paradigm, everyone is saved, some merely know they're saved, while the rest are unaware, but all will have a pleasant afterlife, and all are free to live the present life as the self sees fit.  No need for proselytising, nor for pogroms.  Everyone can just relax and have fun, and those who know they're saved can join together once a week to express their gratitude, surely the polite thing to do.

[Sophus]

First, non-believing clergy aren't merely deceiving themselves - they're deceiving their congregations.  Many congregations would be appalled to learn that their pastors are for all intents and purposes atheists.

That's an important distinction and thanks for pointing it out. By including that information I meant to show that they have at some point in their career lost faith, and given the number of clergy that are honest with themselves, it would not surprise me if more are deceiving themselves to not wake up to the crude reality that they've been living a lie and must continue to live it in order to make a living.

They may not exactly disbelieve but can an adult ever really truly believe in God like they did as a child?

If Christianity wants to survive in the West, it will have to present a logical God.

Or cut off information and/or questions to their flock. There have been attempts at this. It seems as though they have their own sub-culture. Their own music, their own books, their own movies, even their own knockoff websites of YouTube, eHarmony and .

They'll need to eventually sacrifice the devil as well. Judaism originally dreamt him up so they could worship an all-loving God, but that story smells too funny today.

Hopefully one of the new Denominations will be genuinely Univeralist, as Universalism is the most humane, benign, reasonable and cordial theology available to Christianity. Under the Universalist paradigm, everyone is saved, some merely know they're saved, while the rest are unaware, but all will have a pleasant afterlife, and all are free to live the present life as the self sees fit. No need for proselytising, nor for pogroms. Everyone can just relax and have fun, and those who know they're saved can join together once a week to express their gratitude, surely the polite thing to do.

I wonder if we've become more fundamental in our religiosity since the founding years. Jefferson once wrote, "I trust there is not a young man now living in the United States who will not die a Unitarian."

[penfold]

Bad faith is not the same thing as a lack of faith. In fact the word 'faith' is not being used by Sartre in a religious sense, my understanding is that bad faith stands in comparison to authenticity.

Certainly clergy can be inauthentic in their interactions with others. In fact one could argue that the whole Catholic tradition of separating the clergy from the congregation (ie pre Vatican II all services were conducted in Latin a language the congregation could not understand) is an example of bad faith.

However, in my experience (accepting that anecdote is not data), most clergy are very authentic people, misguided perhaps, but genuine enough. On the flip side most 'rank and file' Christians I know do seem to have a degree of inauthenticity in the way they behave. Mostly they are ordinary people who live life day-to-day without God. Then given the right situation, a Sunday service, or pertinent discussion, they will suddenly play-act the role of the devout.

Having said that I think we are all guilty of Sartre's bad faith to some extent. My suspicion is that bad faith is actually a defence mechanism, an example of what Jung calls persona, and not necessarily something we should strive to rid ourselves of completely. Sometimes we need to wear masks. (Speaking as a someone who does a lot of bar work, often times it is better to wear the false smile than be genuine, in the midst of a 14hr shift it can be the only way to get through.)

Cool topic though, will be following with interest.