Faith in the Age of Criticism Pt 2

1. We don’t understand the true nature and strength of criticism. Those who wish to make themselves feel better and others feel worse, who wish to prop up their own agendas, who fear change, or who cannot build anything of their own but hate to see others build things, have hijacked the true understanding and use of the term ‘criticism’. For these people, criticism becomes the means AND the end. For them, criticism exists only to destroy and tear down. So, first of all, we need to redefine what healthy, life giving, criticism is and how we can apply it in order to create, maintain, and strengthen our faith. Dissenters and critics are vital to the survival of any belief system. Healthy criticism, self-criticism, the ability to understand both sides of any issue (without having to support the other side) allows a person to approach any issue with a sense of openness rather than defensiveness. According to Sociologist Emile Durkheim, in group formation the founders of the group initiate boundaries to which members must adhere. Within each group, there are those who critique (or criticize or question) those boundaries. These critics force the group to continually reevaluate its boundaries and make necessary changes. These critics also force the group to continually reevaluate its boundaries and maintain original boundaries when appropriate. The one thing that Durkheim's (and others') studies revealed is that although this process of criticism can at times be difficult, it is also vital to the survival of the group. Without criticism the group will not critique it's own boundaries and will, in every case, eventually decay to a point that they are unable or unwilling to defend "ancient" boundaries that they no longer engage with and therefore do not fully comprehend. Along with this, the group that does not continually critique its boundaries will lose touch with the changing nature of how its' belief systems engage with the culture around it. This means the group sinks into obscurity and irrelevance. Essentially the group no longer matters to the culture around it. It has become outdated without even realizing it. This same scenario applies to the individual and his or her belief structure.