BELIEFS

WHAT ARE BELIEFS?

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We have always stood at the edge of knowing, peering into the vastness with stories in our hands.

Before telescopes and particle accelerators, there were fireside myths—worlds born from chaos, gods shaping clay into breath, stars pinned to the sky by unseen hands. Mythology did not merely explain existence; it gave it texture. It told us that thunder had intention, that oceans had memory, that we were part of a living narrative rather than an accidental occurrence. In these stories, meaning came first, and evidence followed as feeling.

Then came religion, more structured, more enduring. It offered not only origin stories but moral architecture. It asked not just where do we come from? but how should we live? Religion gave humanity coherence—rituals to bind communities, ethics to restrain impulses, hope to soften the inevitability of death. It provided a compass in a world that often feels directionless. And yet, within that same certainty lies a shadow: when belief becomes immovable, it can divide as easily as it unites. Conviction can become exclusion. Faith can become a boundary rather than a bridge.

Science entered not as a replacement for wonder, but as a different language for it. The Big Bang theory does not diminish awe—it expands it. The idea that everything we know emerged from an unimaginably dense point, that time and space themselves unfolded from a single event, is no less poetic than any creation myth. Science offers a discipline of doubt, a method of questioning that insists on evidence and revision. It is powerful precisely because it is willing to be wrong.

But science, too, has its tensions. When treated not as a method but as a doctrine, it can become cold, dismissive of the human need for meaning beyond measurement. Data can explain how, but often struggles to satisfy why. And in that gap, people search elsewhere.

Astrology, often dismissed yet persistently embraced, reflects a different kind of longing—the desire to see oneself mirrored in the cosmos. It suggests that the movements of distant planets echo within our own lives, that we are not isolated but intricately connected to a larger rhythm. Whether taken literally or symbolically, it speaks to a deeply human instinct: to find patterns, to feel seen, to believe that our inner world has a place in the outer universe.

And then there is the cosmos itself—vast, indifferent, breathtaking. Galaxies spinning in silence, black holes bending reality, dark matter holding everything together while remaining unseen. The universe neither confirms nor denies our beliefs. It simply is. And in that indifference, we are left with a profound freedom—and a profound responsibility.

And yet, perhaps one of the greatest dangers is not what we believe—but how we respond to what others believe.
In a world that is increasingly interconnected, where cultures, ideas, and identities collide and coexist in real time, the refusal to respect another’s belief can no longer hide behind distance or ignorance. It becomes visible—sharp, immediate, and often harmful. Dismissing or ridiculing another person’s worldview may feel like certainty, but it often reveals something else: an unwillingness to engage, to listen, or to evolve.

When we fail to respect differing beliefs, we do more than create disagreement—we erode dialogue. We reduce complex human experiences into simplistic judgments. And in doing so, we risk appearing not just intolerant, but out of step with a world that is rapidly learning the value of pluralism. What once may have been seen as conviction can now be perceived as ignorance, not because one holds a belief, but because one refuses to acknowledge the legitimacy of another’s perspective.

Respect does not require agreement. It requires awareness. It asks us to recognise that every belief—whether rooted in religion, science, culture, or personal experience—emerges from a context, a history, a need to make sense of existence. To deny that is to deny part of what it means to be human.

Beliefs, in all their forms, are tools we use to navigate this mystery. At their best, they ground us. They give us identity, community, purpose. They help us endure suffering and celebrate existence. They remind us that we are not alone, even in our smallest moments.

But beliefs can also become cages. When we cling to them too tightly, they limit our ability to grow. When we defend them at all costs, they can justify harm. History is filled with moments where certainty led not to clarity, but to conflict. The danger is not belief itself—it is the refusal to question it—and the refusal to allow others the dignity of their own.

Perhaps the evolution of humanity is not about choosing one belief system over another, but about learning how to hold them differently. To approach religion with humility rather than superiority. To engage science with curiosity rather than arrogance. To see mythology as metaphor, astrology as reflection, and the cosmos as an invitation rather than an answer.

We are meaning-makers in a universe that offers none explicitly. That is both our burden and our gift.

So maybe the question is not which belief is true, but how we choose to believe.

Do our beliefs expand us, or do they confine us?
Do they bring us closer to one another, or pull us apart?
Do they allow for mystery, or demand certainty?

Because in the end, we are not just shaped by what we believe.

We are shaped by how we hold it.

I ‘believe’ Bob said:

The order now is rapidly fading….So, what comes next?

Who knows but, I think we’re about to find out!

LET GO OF YOUR SET IN STONE BELIEFS AND INSTEAD, OPT FOR PERSPECTIVES!

Why have I said all of this?

I have spent the past 4 years myself going through the rhetoric of:

‘I can’t eat meat anymore’ – ‘My body needs to eat meat’ – ‘I don’t believe in gay marriage’ – ‘Why shouldn’t gays get married?’ – ‘I am completely against left wing politics’ – ‘Actually, I agree with what Kamala had to say’ – ‘I’m completely against all man made religions’ – ‘Reads the old and new testament front to back – twice!’

The last 4 years since the apocalypse of 2020 have sent me from the north to south poles front to back side to side at high speed to test my faith, my beliefs, my values, my worth, my purpose, my people, my heart and soul like nothing I’ve experienced in my previous 40 years 

MY VERY OWN POLE SHIFT

I have now realised that all and any trauma I hold in any of my bodies (physical, mental, light and emotional) are only going to function and connect at their highest if I release all expectations of this life, its structure, the beliefs and my place in a dying / emerging world

I will no longer say:

 ‘I am a vegetarian’ ‘I am a meat eater’ ‘I am a conservative’ ‘I am a liberal’ ‘I am a teetotaler – sits supping a martini’….

If something can change so easily then it doesn’t deserve to be a part of my ‘I AM’ identity

ALL THINGS THAT CAN EASILY CHANGE!

But, these new little individuals…..This is where we could get quite weird and where we need to perhaps keep an open mind 

As I said, I have 2. I admit that I have had moments where I have thought to myself

 ‘I really hope they don’t come home and tell me they’re gay’ 

And then I have a realisation of 

‘As long as my kids are genuinely happy, I don’t give a buggery monkeys what their sexual preferences are’

AND I MEAN THAT GENUINELY

They have friends that are experimenting and experiencing with pronouns we in our gens never heard of, some identifying as X or Y or neither or both….A very different playing field from what we knew and I admit there have been times when I have thought

‘No, I can’t. This just isn’t right’

Or

‘There are agendas at play to damage our children and distort their realities’

And you know what, YES, I still do consider that there are indeed agendas at play to distort reality or to fracture families / bodies / souls and they are playing hard right now to damage all of us in many ways but…..

These children with these ideals and curiosities were always going to come here and break the old molds to figure out what comes next. There has ALWAYS been sexual / gender ambiguities (jeez way back when with opium orgy fests and beastiality as the norm makes our funny children look like amateurs) – Yet everyones so surprised that change is here and its rattling cages

Maybe it’s not even change, maybe it’s just becoming more open, more spoken about, more accepted – or at least that’s the hope but many resist and in doing so, that resistance puts division between the generations and makes it harder for a united community to stand strong and really THAT is what we should all be aiming to achieve

BUT OUR BELIEFS GET IN THE WAY……

How can we learn to trust each other if the past is so hurtful, harsh and unforgiving and the future is yet so unknown?

How can the emerging generations truly respect their elders if they sense or feel that their elders don’t care or consider them? (And they sure do sense and feel)

I will at this point say very simply that respecting your elders is an absolute given whether you like it or not. You don’t have to agree but show politeness and courtesy for your elders because one thing they do have that you as a youngster don’t, is experience. Maturity offers wisdom. 

You ONLY get that through life experience so kids, BE POLITE = SHOW SOME RESPECT or else that elder might whip your liberal backside whether you like it or not because back in their days, that was just how things got done!

COMING UP NEXT…….

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