Berwick Thought for the Week: Why believe?

Remember those, when as a child a friend would try to win a point by saying “Well, my Dad says…. therefore it must be true”.

Or more recently, perhaps, when somebody you know tries to convince you of something, clearly at odds with the prevailing evidence, by stating with conviction, “Well I read the Guardian and George Monbiot says…”.

That is with one exception. It never ceases to amaze me how many significant and/or famous people over the past 100 years have been openly Christians.

These range from the likes of Nelson Mandela to the late and much missed Queen Elizabeth II, politicians such as Baroness Thatcher and Tony Blair (note the political balance there), authors such as C S Lewis, J R R Tolkien and J K Rowling, all action heroes such as Bear Grylls and Usain Bolt, actors such as Dame Judy Dench, Denzel Washington, Tom Hanks and David Suchet, and musicians such as Johny Cash, Faith Hill, Alice Cooper and Daddy Yankee, who as we all know is a famous Puerto Rican rapper.

Trust me, go on the internet and ask the question and you will be amazed.

So, why does that persuade me? Well, for two reasons. Firstly, as a Christian one seems to invite the assumption that you must be stupid… let’s face it, who could possibly believe in all that religious stuff? Well, actually, some pretty impressive intellectual heavyweights who would not have come to faith without compelling reasons to, is the answer.

And secondly, because publicly expressing one’s Christian beliefs can often clear a room faster than the pungent aftermath of an over-spiced vindaloo. So, anybody in the spotlight of public opinion, often pernicious and fickle, who has the courage to publicly express their Christian beliefs is worthy of respect.

So, should anybody ever ask in a disparaging way how you could believe in all of that religious stuff, you may want to answer because John Polkinghorne (an English theoretical physicist who discovered the quark) and Francis Collins (who led the team that mapped human DNA) do …. and they’re much cleverer than you are.

David Harper is a Berwick resident who runs his own planning, property and environmental consultancy. When he’s not working or spending time with his wife, Colette, and their two boys and their families, he can be found restoring old cars and motorbikes.