CURE FOR CREDULITY: The Bigger and More Important the Claim the Better
the Testimony Needs to be
Credulity means we accept what others tell us without checking it. Or it can
refer to when we do check it out but neglectfully. It is dangerous for it is to
blame for most of the evils and superstitions in the world. Think of the
impoverished mother who gives away her last dime to a charlatan who says that
God will reward her by healing her baby. We do not want to encourage a framework
of credulity wherein that can happen. And that is what we are doing if we give
any support to credulity at all. Many of us will make mistakes and be credulous
without meaning to be. That has to be acknowledged. And we must not hold it
against ourselves or others. We must learn from our errors and rash judgments.
Suppose a good friend, who we have never found out to be a liar, says to us that
they experienced an instant healing from terminal illness because somebody gave
them a satanic witch potion. It seems disloyal and insulting to suspend belief.
Should we take the person's word for it? But nobody can expect us to have
complete confidence in their being right but only in their sincerity. That is
all any reasonable witness can ask. Thus we are entitled to investigate and ask
questions to see if the person is sincerely mistaken. We are not accusing them
of being unreliable or lying. If we are then it must be slander then for a
lawyer to cross examine a witness to a crime! We ask questions all the time to
check out what we are told. A true friend would welcome that. They wouldn't want
us to see us led astray.
There are certain things that should not be accepted except by those who have
checked them out carefully and slowly and thoroughly and found them believable.
Miracles and magic are top of the list. Suppose some Catholic investigators have
evidence that Lourdes really had been visited by the Virgin Mary in a
supernatural vision. They cannot encourage anybody or let anybody agree with
them who has not become an investigator like them. They cannot encourage people
to mistreat the truth and to have disrespect for evidence.
To protect yourself from being misled, to protect others too, to guard against
the dangers of error, demand extraordinarily good testimony for extraordinary
claims. And what is more extraordinary than miracles and the supernatural?
Remember extraordinary evidence just means have a higher standard that is all.
Be careful not to be looking for a miraculous level of evidence or an impossible
one for that is just another form of credulity!
