Wheels in our Heads

"The thought is my own only when I have no misgiving about bringing it in danger of death every moment, when I do not have to fear its loss as a loss for me, a loss of me."
-Max Stirner, The Ego and His Own: The Case of the Individual Against Authority

We Americans have wheels in our heads. Some of us suffer from this more than others, but the fact is that most people hold beliefs that they have either inherited from their parents or have been led to believe will make them better people. Most people don't take the time to test these beliefs in the fire of reason because the beliefs are comfortable. To question and test your own beliefs requires a great deal of separation; it requires the knowledge that although your beliefs are a part of you, you are not your beliefs.

I have had the experience of testing the wheels in my own head. Raised in a Christian home, I grew up believing that God was king of my life and Christian conservatism was the political way to go. The problem that I encountered was that I had a hard time trusting in the infallibility of the scriptures; I also had problems justifying the hypocrisy of the people around me, as well as my own hypocrisy. To be a Christian conservative meant that I wanted everyone around me to not only accept the beliefs that I held, but that I wanted to shove these beliefs as far into their lives as I could, whether they believed them or not. I did not feel comfortable with this approach because I know that I would not want someone else's beliefs and way of life imposed upon me.

It took a great deal of strength to examine my beliefs and realize that they did not stand up to reason. I was defined by my Christian beliefs - they were me. To separate myself from them took a great deal of personal honesty and courage; after breaking myself apart and examining the pieces, throwing out the ideas that hindered me and keeping the ones that helped, I came out a much stronger and more secure person.

The purpose of this blog is not to impose my personal beliefs on you, the reader. Rather, I hope that this blog will cause you to look at your own beliefs and figure out which ones are a part of you and which ones you are using to define yourself. Tearing down the wheels in your own head can cause a feeling of liberation because you know that your ideas and beliefs are your own and you know why you hold them. And above all, YOU hold THEM - THEY do not hold YOU.