A Statement of Intent, Part 1: Questioning

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There really isn’t a polite way to question the world.

By world, here, I mean the world of humanity: Society, the Zeitgeist, and the Received Wisdom. Take religion. A lot of people are okay with the idea that other people don’t share their beliefs so long as no one is so gauche as to actually mention it. Polite society tells us that we should “respect” religious beliefs, but that seems wrong. The respect accorded an idea should be based on its merits, not on the fact that feelings might be hurt if you point out, say, that the whole basis for “Mankind’s Salvation” in Christianity is so much balderdash.

There’s a lot more to question, of course. People can be just as touchy about their social mores and politics. Nowhere is that more true when we have something to lose: i.e. when we have privilege. Here in America you can sit back and watch as men, whites, Christians, heterosexuals and the cisgendered react, shall we say, badly when their positions of privilege are attacked.

We believe many things without questioning them too deeply, and when someone else does the questioning for us, we often fail to be grateful. I know whereof I speak: I have been the poor, offended clown more times than I care to admit, and I’ve been the clueless white, heterosexual, cisgendered guy even more times.

Questioning hurts. It means leaving certainty behind forever. It means having to be okay with not knowing, with not being sure. That does not come easily to most of us. Certainly not to me! I often find myself just wanting to belong, go along with the crowd, accept the Received Wisdom and not rock the boat. And yes, I often crave certainty.

But I try to resist. Part of it is another inbuilt tendency, the one that makes the question “Really?” hover near my lips at all times. There was a time that I saw that as a weakness. It’s not. It’s Humanity’s strength. We’re just ornery enough that we can never, quite, leave well enough alone. Marvelous things result.

That’s what this blog is about. The marvelous things that happen, the people who make them happen. Call it a celebration of the square pegs, the impudent ones, and the impertinent questioners. The Jackanapes and Rabble-rousers. I want to do that, and do a lot of hardcore questioning of my own. Some of that will be about society and science and religion. Some of that will be personal as I deal with my personal demons of anxiety and depression. All of it will be in part a personal reminder to myself to stay awake and embrace the impudent fellow within who is always asking, “Really?”

There’s a “But,” of course. There always is. But that’ll be Part 2. In the meantime, why don’t you take a gander at the About page?