The laws made and governed by Man alone are so very malleable; always changing, and forever subject to change. All it takes is one man, one "rebel with a cause" to derail the train of human thought and understanding. Was this not the case with Magellan's pursuit to disprove once and for all the notion that the earth was flat, or simply "dome-shaped"? And what of Pythagorean and his suggestion that "A squared + B squared = C squared"? Where would we be today had not William Harvey disproved the popular (but in most cases detrimental) practice of bloodletting?
Granted, these variations from the accepted law laid down by Man were beneficial to mankind; but not all pioneers of thought have such benevolent intentions. Suppose we were informed tomorrow, better yet, 10 years from now that "The air outside will make our cells divide at an alarming rate until our shells simply cannot hold all our insides in, and that's when we'd explode" and we should, therefore, remain indoors for the rest of our natural lives until the ending of the populace.
Go ahead, scoff at the notion. These may be just silly song lyrics to you now, but suppose you heard this, in all seriousness, on the nightly news, or from a respected official, or a noted doctor or scientist. We as a species are subject to believe even the most unbelievable if it comes from a creditable source. And we as a species abound with creditable sources.
It only takes one man. One man with status or title, and a bit of plausible evidence has all the power in the world.
This realization of mine has had a strengthening effect on my belief that this is not a man-made world. I believe that if Man had created - or even if we simply governed the universe, it would take no more than another man to toss the entire balance off-kilter and destroy us all. The law that I believe rules the world is infallible. That whole "Thou Shalt Not Steal" thing? I'd like to see you get around that one with no consequences. And that's how the whole system works. It is contingent upon consequences. If you do this, that happens. If you do that, this happens. It's frighteningly simple. The problem for some, I believe, is that the consequences are too ethereal, to insubstantial - sometimes too outrageous to even consider. On the one hand, if you do this, you may gain all the riches and good tidings the world has to offer. But when would this promise be fulfilled? In whose time? Alternatively, if you do that, you will be cursed beyond all reasoning. And when might this occur? Gradually? All at once? At all?
So many questions hinder the validity of this system. The crux, though, is belief. This entire working system hinges upon belief. And that is a truly frightening thing. Belief - faith - is a very personal thing. It is a choice. One either chooses to believe a thing as true, or not; and no one else can make that choice for another.
Well, avid readers, I do believe I've exhausted my soapbox for today. As a printer has just freed up and I have work to do, I leave you with more song lyrics for you to ponder.
Faith makes everybody scared
It's the unknown, the don't know
That keeps me hanging on and on,
And on to you.
It's the unknown, the don't know
That keeps me hanging on and on,
And on to you.
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