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Convicting my convictions
Putting my beliefs on trial.
I don’t take what I write too seriously. In the same way, I don’t take what I believe at this moment too seriously either, because chances are, my beliefs will change, maybe in the next decade, maybe tomorrow, or even in five-minutes from now. I’ve come to learn that my ideas about what’s true are problematic.
I write (which to me is really just thinking out loud) to test my convictions — those beliefs and opinions I so firmly hold — so I can decide if they’re worth hanging on to, if I should revise them or toss them out.
The Latin root of the noun “conviction”, derived from the verb “convincere” means “to overcome and defeat in argument”. So when I write, I essentially grill myself as I perform philosophical spring cleaning. I am working to overcome my own biases, to determine if there are any righteous cloaks or virtuous boots in my closet that no longer fit. Conviction is also the act of determining if someone or something is guilty in a court of law. In this regard, when writing, I put my existing world views, assumptions of reality, moral values, intentions, assessments of others, and behaviors on trial, investigating their accuracy, purity, and usefulness.
In John Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress”, the devil archetype, portrayed by the character of Worldly Wiseman, is thrilled when the…
