Doubt – A Virtue or Vice?
Peter Boghossian and James Lindsay’s book “How to Have Impossible Conversations: A Very Practical Guide ” should be required reading for high schools, colleges, non-profit organizations, and churches. I appreciate the difficult conversations these two have intentionally engaged in and the insights they have accumulated over the years about difficult conversations, changing others’ minds, and having their own minds change. Although they share some very practical and savvy approaches to engaging hard topics and changing minds, their strength is the ethical and relational nature of their process. I know Marcus Warner and Jim Wilder from Rare Leadership would appreciate this type of emotionally intelligent tactic when emotions usually escalate.[i]Much of this is about self-awareness and modeling the type of behavior we want to see in others.
Although I could spend the rest of this post just examining the relational and EQ portion of the book, I want to unpack doubt’s role in growth. Boghossian and Lindsay say, “If you think you have caused your partner to doubt one of her beliefs, that is a good time to stop the conversation.”[ii]. This is a large part of changing people’s minds. Introducing doubt. This is the chink in the armor.
Doubt
WAIT! Doubt is terrible, though, right?! Doubt is the opposite of faith.
James 1:6-8 says, “But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.”
This could not be truer in the proper context, situation, and circumstance. Doubt can cause us to be wishy-washy and unstable. Doubt can also lead to indecisiveness, depression, crisis, and cynicism. Doubt, applied in other situations, is the very thing that helps people find transformation and inch closer to spiritual, historical, and intellectual realities.
Steve Hassan joined a cult (the Moonies), dropped out of college, lived in a compound, eventually left the cult, and now helps others deprogram from cults. He is one of the world’s leading experts on cults.[iii] These range from high-control cults to low-control cults. How and why did he leave this cult?
Doubt.
His moment of clarity was all because of a moment of genuine doubt. For a long while, he was convinced that his leader was a Messiah figure, that this movement was from God, and that the end was near. No amount of evidence and facts swayed him since he was indoctrinated to believe anything other than what he was told was deception and persecution. Boghossian and Lindsey also emphasize that presenting facts and evidence alone does not usually change minds. When he was away from the cult for two weeks due to an accident and spoke with his Dad, he had a moment of genuine doubt that maybe he was wrong about this group and its leader.
This moment of doubt allowed him to be open to hearing something new, which set him free from the deception of the fear of being deceived. Statistically, we are all holding on to half-truths, twisted realities, incomplete stories, faulty perceptions, and utter fallacies, which means doubt becomes the catalyst for truth, humility, and transformation. Doubt in this capacity begins looking more like a virtue than a vice.
Maybe those types of people are not so bad…
Maybe it didn’t happen exactly like the news said it did…
Maybe our denominations are missing something here…
Maybe God works through that as well…
Maybe historians are not as unbiased as I thought…
Maybe I’m not seeing everything as it is…
Maybe those people are telling the truth…
Maybe God does exist and cares how I live…
Maybe that’s not the most essential thing in life…
Most of us avoid doubting for fear of believing a lie and traveling down a road leading to delusion or destruction. I know I think about this. As Lindsey and Boghossian claim, “People do not knowingly desire bad things…Individuals act, believe, and desire based upon the information they have.”[iv] This reminds me that most folks are likely in this category. He also claims that when we drill down, we hold beliefs because we feel they are morally right based on what we know at the time, which leads to another critical question. What do we actually know?
Epistemology
Matthew Petrusek, a Catholic ethicist, and Peter Boghossian, an outspoken atheist, both emphasize the role and value of epistemology in changing minds. Finding better ways to uncover our and others’ epistemology was one of my favorite aspects of this book, which gave me some practical ideas for building golden bridges and understanding others more. However, digging down and uncovering the epistemological layers of ourselves and others and using the Socratic method does not always mean we will all arrive at universal conclusions since both of these authors stand in very different places but have similar philosophies on leading others to “truth”. Peter even has a book called A Manual For Creating Atheists.
It is noteworthy that they both agree on having charitable conversations. Petrusek argues that whatever is said “should be done in the spirit and tone of charity,” which parallels Peter and James’ consistent emphasis on humility, empathy, compassion, and, yes, he even encourages charity when speaking with others who disagree with you. [v] Beliefs may not always be universal, but a particular type of Spirit and approach is proving to be.
If doubt produces a spirit of humility and charity in us rather than arrogance, close-mindedness, and hostility, then bring it on.
[i] Warner, Marcus, and E. James Wilder. Rare Leadership: 4 Uncommon Habits for Increasing Trust, Joy, and Engagement in the People You Lead. Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2016.
[ii] Boghossian, Peter G., and James Lindsay. How to Have Impossible Conversations: A Very Practical Guide. New York, NY: Lifelong, 2019, 31.
[iii] Hassan, Steven. Combating Cult Mind Control: The #1 Best-Selling Guide to Protection, Rescue, and Recovery from Destructive Cults. 25. anniversary ed., rev.Updated for today’s new realities. 3. ed., Newly rev. and Updated. Newton, MA: Freedom of Mind Press, 2015.
[iv] Boghossian, How to Have Impossible Conversations, 26.
[v] Petrusek, Matthew R. Evangelization and Ideology: How to Understand and Respond to the Political Culture. Park Ridge, IL: published by the Word on Fire Institute, an imprint of Word on Fire, 2023, 452.
About the Author
Adam Harris
I am currently the Associate Pastor at a church called Godwhy in Hendersonville, TN near Nashville. We love questions and love people even more. Our faith community embraces God and education wholeheartedly. I graduated from Oral Roberts University for undergrad and Vanderbilt for my masters. I teach historical critical Biblical studies at my church to help our community through their questions and ultimately deepen their faith. I love research, writing, learning, and teaching. I oversee our staff and leadership development. Before being at Godwhy I worked as a regional sales coach and director for Anytime Fitness. I've been married for over 13 years to my best friend and we have two amazing boys that keep us busy.10 responses to “Doubt – A Virtue or Vice?”
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I so agree with your assertion regarding “doubt.” Made me think of my friend A.J. Swoboda’s book “After Doubt.” It doesn’t disregard doubt as something evil, but rather a healthy part of life.
Perhaps doubt is a feature not a bug.
Blessings Adam. Hello from Ecuador.
🙂
Oh I’ll have to check that out. This post helped me to think through some things. This is honestly the first time I’ve legitimately seen doubt as a kind of virtue. I understand what it can do in some cases, but doubt can certainly be the opening for God to speak and work. Have fun and be safe in Ecuador!
Adam,
As I read your post, I was grateful for you perspective and contribution to this conversation. As a pastor I am sure this approach gives you fodder for dynamic discussions within your own congregation. You wrote:
“It is noteworthy that they both agree on having charitable conversations. Petrusek argues that whatever is said “should be done in the spirit and tone of charity,” which parallels Peter and James’ consistent emphasis on humility, empathy, compassion, and, yes, he even encourages charity when speaking with others who disagree with you. [v] Beliefs may not always be universal, but a particular type of Spirit and approach is proving to be.” My question for you is have you witnessed men and women publicly disagreeing about religious beliefs where charity was present? I really appreciated you bringing Petrusek into your post!
Our cohort! We have diverse perspectives, but I’ve yet to see our cohort not have charity for one another. Other than us, I’ve seen our staff and some pastors in our area disagree while being civil. Unfortunately, more times than not, people either avoid difficult subjects in person, OR use social media as the place for passive aggressiveness or just plain aggressiveness. Most of the attacking is done on Facebook or the comment section in various social media places these days. I appreciated this books section on that very subject.
This type of thing is right down your alley, right Pam?
This is a really great post, and you’ve really got me thinking about doubt and how to open the door to doubt in my conversations. I want to think more about how that intersects with identity, which Bogossian said is one of the anchors for an ideologue: “Offering evidence—facts—almost never facilitates belief revision for any belief with moral, social, or identity-level salience.” So I guess the question would be, how to introduce doubt into the way someone sees themselves?
Thanks Kim, this post allowed me to think through some things myself. I can honestly say I see doubt now as a tool that can bring healing or destruction. Without it most people do not become open to new ideas or experiences that may just be what they need. When doubt is introduced emotions follow like confusion, fear, and even anger which reminds me of the ‘threshold concept’ material we read. IQ is not the determiner if someone can move through these liminal spaces successfully, but those who can be uncomfortable for the longest. Doubt is uncomfortable!
Great question. I’ve been digging more into the Socratic method and how to ask questions of myself and others to uncover epistemology. What I’ve learned so far from some of Peter Boghossian’s material and interviews is that the Socratic method does not help us find truth per se but exposes what is not valid. Concerning identity I would think we would have to start digging down to see what has built our identities. Geographic, religious beliefs, hurts, narratives, personal experiences, parents, fears, and spiritual experiences. Then going through to see what is valid and what might not be? Easy stuff! lol
This is me thinking out loud with you Kim, this book has got my wheels turning as well!
Paul Tillich stated, “Doubt is not the opposite of faith; it is one element of faith,” but I like Anne Lamott’s version better. She writes, “The opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty. Certainty is missing the point entirely.”
Certainty is missing the point entirely. I wonder if that’s because when we are certain we are not open – to learning, growing, imagining, relationship, etc.
Your post got me thinking about how to really change one’s mind is often a long process. An introduction of doubt and then letting that seed germinate sometimes for years. I think of how I’ve changed my mind about some things. Rarely did it happen after one conversation. It took many conversations, years of relationship and compassion for the person with whom I disagreed.
Thanks for helping me think about this.
Thanks Kally, I’m thinking through this as well. While reading through this book, I thought, I think I’ve done the exact opposite of some of what seems to work in real life. I’ve yet to have someone who really disagreed with me say: “By golly you’re right and I’m wrong, thanks for showing me the error of my ways!” Especially when just giving facts and evidence. I HAVE had success and also changed my mind when something has already created some kind of doubt in me: experience, questions, noticing some contradictory elements of some kind, etc.
Like you mentioned about compassion, not only should we be able to defend why we stand where we do on issues, but how we stand and who we are as we do it is even more important while creating change. Thanks for the response Kally and for helping me continue to process through this myself.
I like doubt as part of this conversation! We all doubt at times if we are honest. I think strength and courage and the ability to be present with those “opposite” of us is easier because we have stretched those wings a bit ourselves! It helps us hold on to “it” our truth, more loosely. Not let it go, but just loosely. good post friend
Thanks Jana, for some reason this book and thinking through it expanded my view of doubt. I think I’ve been conditioned to view doubt as negative since I only see it as “doubting healthy things” when doubt is pretty crucial for bringing skepticism to unhealthy thinking, worldviews, bad theology, and belief systems. Thanks for the response!