When we take something on faith
we are enfolding it into our imagination.
We are saying "I am going to imagine this to be so--
pretend this to be so--
because I want it to be so.
And I am going to tell myself that it is so,
whether it is or not.
"Since you can't prove to me that it isn't so,
I am going to imagine that it is so,
because it gives me such comfort to do so."
People all over the world throughout time
have lived in imaginary worlds
because reality would be too stark and painful
for them to bear straight up,
just as it is.
They take it on faith that the world
is the way they want the world to be,
and take as much comfort in that being the case
as they would if it actually were so.
The trouble with that is their make believe world
requires them to treat people who do not share
their conviction
in ways that are outlandish and inhuman.
They have burned people at the stake,
hung people by the neck until dead,
drowned people as witches,
shunned people,
exiled people,
tortured people without mercy or end,
all because their imagination
told them that doing so was God's will.
When I shave my head
it is going to be in renunciation and protest.
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Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy 