For me I think it was growing up in a dogmatic Christian sect and just never feeling at home with that kind of world view. The ambiguity of Taoism is a much more natural fit. I enjoy coming to my own conclusions about what the Dao is and not worrying if I have the “correct” view.
By social identity I don’t mean the concept of the self (though that is interesting and related) I mean identity in terms of nationality, creed, ethnicity, religion, friend groups, that sort of thing. I am particularly interested in questions of how we (as selves) should relate to our social identities and what purpose (or hindrance) they could serve in terms of political action.
No worse atrocities have been committed then those by people who were certain they were in the right. From the final solution to the burning of heretics, once we have abdicated our struggle with moral ambiguity intolerance inevitably follows. While this is not a tragedy confined to the abrahamic faiths, there they find a particularly caustic manifestation.
A few common objections anticipated:
“How can you condemn acts like the holocaust and the crusades while also claiming there is no objective right and wrong?”
-I never claimed that there is not right and wrong, only that we cannot be certain of what is right and wrong. It is well within our right as human beings to condemn horrendous acts, indeed we must. But once we claim to know what is right always we deceive ourselves.
“How can you deny that X horrendous act is wrong?”
-I agree, that is wrong. It is obvious that some beliefs are better founded than others, but that does not imply certainty. I am very confident evolution is real. The evidence is overwhelming. However I will never close my mind to the possibility that my belief in evolution could be changed. Likewise my belief that X is wrong is very strong, but in reaching for certainty I gain nothing.
“You misunderstand the abrahamic faiths. The whole point of God is to grapple with the uncertainty of his existence”.
-fair enough, but why are we accepting ultimatums from am entity who wishes for us to grapple with his very existence? Furthermore, if this is true, why have abrahamic faiths gone to such great lengths to silence doubters? It seems they should be celebrating the skeptics as people who most purely grapple with Gods existence.
“My beliefs are personal. I may be certain of them but it does influence how I treat others.”
-There is no such thing as a private belief. And once a belief is elevated to universal truth, its impact on our behavior is turbocharged. Sure the abrahamic faiths bow to social pressure in secular nations, but to allow true tolerance to those deemed sinful would render the whole belief system inert.