In theatre, and other forms of art, “Suspension of disbelief” is defined as “The willingness to suspend one's critical faculties and believe the unbelievable; it is the sacrifice of realism and logic for the sake of enjoyment.” The meaning of the term “Essential” can be explained as important, vital, key or useful.
The area of knowledge that is the focal point in this essay is ‘Religious Knowledge Systems.’ This area of knowledge can be explicated as, “A specific system of belief or worship that focuses on knowledge claims about spirituality and the metaphysical nature of the world.” I will be exploring this area of knowledge using faith, reason and emotion as ways of knowing.
One either believes in the institution of religion suspending their disbelief initially or regards it as a complete work of fiction, therefore the question arises: To what extent is suspension of disbelief a key feature in the religious knowledge systems?
“Suspension of disbelief” is a feature essential in religious knowledge systems, as there cannot be a foundation of faith in religion if we do not suspend are disbelief at least initially. Faith is defined as “having strong belief in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual conviction rather than proof.” That is the nature of religion, creating unwavering belief without offering tangible proof. When beginning to have faith in any given religion, the ideas are abstract and fundamentally metaphysical, and it is not until these ideas are elucidated and sustained, that people begin to feel what they believe in is indeed real.This is not to say that all rudiments of religion are comprised of things that are not real, but to propose that the processes of helping the audience to surmise in theatre and religion are similar because of this phenomenon. This is similar to a theatrical experience, as audience’s disbelief is never immediately suspended – it takes time. In this sense, suspension of disbelief becomes an essential feature of religion. Similar to how we read and watch things as a form of escapism, religion often acts as a way for people to escape, and explain their worlds – two things that would be impossible without the suspension of disbelief.
A real life example of ‘suspension of disbelief’ is one I personally experienced. My family and I go to church every Sunday and say the rosary everyday. My parents wanted to ensure that I imbibe their religious values and as a result I went for religious services out of compulsion and not by choice. This made me averse to the idea of religion and faith. As I grew older I also began to ask a lot more questions and demand explanations for things that were mentioned in the Bible and that we practiced, that didn’t have any logical basis and weren’t scientifically plausible. I never got the answers I was looking for and this made me drift further away from religion. My rational mind wouldn’t allow me to believe that ‘Jesus walked on water' or that ‘Mary gave birth to a child despite being a virgin’, these are things that are scientifically impossible and I found hard to believe. This year my mother coerced me to attend a five day catholic youth retreat, to help bring me closer to God and improve my faith and after a lot of coaxing I decided to give it a chance. One of my counsellors at the retreat told me that I have to have ‘blind faith’ in God, and only then will I feel his presence. For the first time in my life I decided to abandon all the reasoning and rational-thinking and completely immerse myself in the program. I ‘suspended my disbelief’ and tried to just have faith and to some extent it worked. I didn’t have a life changing spiritual awakening but I certainly did feel a spiritual connection of some sort. I had encounters and experienced feelings that for the first time I couldn’t logically expound. I then thought is growing in faith like that? Does one start off with an overly realist sense of the world, and gradually allow oneself to suspend disbelief and accept what we say one believes in as real after having a spiritual experience? Much of what one believes is invisible and abstract, and it isn't until one sees it acted out in front of us that we start to suspend disbelief. I know now that if one wants to have a spiritual encounter one truly must have faith and 'suspend their disbelief’ about the abstract nature of religion for that period of time. If you try and find evidence or an explanation for every verse in the Bible, then you can’t possibly experience the absolute power of spirituality. Now, I personally choose to focus on the positive attributes of religion like charity, kindness and following a basic moral code that ensures one is a good human being above anything else.
On the other hand the counterclaim to this argument is that ‘suspension of disbelief’ is not an essential feature in any of the other areas of knowledge especially not religious knowledge systems. For atheists who do not believe in the existence of God, they might consider this feature redundant as they already look at religion with skepticism and cynicism.They don’t need to suspend their disbelief as they are already ‘non-believers’. Atheists consider suspending their disbelief temporarily as foolishness and evading the truth. According to Richard Dawkins who is an evolutionary biologist and proclaimed atheist, “ Religion is corrosive to science. It teaches people to be satisfied with trivial, supernatural non-explanations and blinds them to the wonderful real explanations that we have within our grasp. It teaches them to accept authority, revelation and faith instead of always insisting on evidence.” Dawkins believes that faith is “the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence.” Therefore, for people who do not consider religion as an essential social institution in their life, the feature of “suspension of disbelief” will to a large extent be futile and nugatory, as they deem religion as a work of fiction.
This perspective although completely valid examines religion and faith through a lens of skepticism. A balance between belief and skepticism is required for obtaining knowledge. One cannot completely avoid ones biases. But the implication of rejecting the other perspectives and opinions as a result of having a rigid outlook are very serious as it can hinder the path to true knowledge. By suspending ones belief temporarily, one isn’t evading the truth but deciding to focus on the greater benefits of religion like the spirit of community, family and trust that is founded, rather than focusing on the religious text and preachings that are outdated and often a ploy to harvest propaganda. One can enjoy the benefits of experiencing the power of spirituality which is enlightening and yet bare rationality and reasoning.
In conclusion, suspension of disbelief is an essential feature in religious knowledge systems. Religion is of a metaphysical nature and cannot be holistically experienced without temporarily suspending ones belief. Willing suspension of disbelief involves putting art before probability; it is finding faith – something you cannot verify. One must fathom the complexity of interpreting religious texts and concepts and separate it from the experiences one undergoes because of their faith in their religion. It is only because of the initial suspension of disbelief that one can cement their faith and gain a deeper understanding in theology hence proving that suspension of disbelief to a large extent is an essential feature of religious knowledge systems.