The path of questioning is feared by most people, especially when it comes to faith. However, the people that have chosen to overcome that fear often change the world. If Columbus were to not question the validity of a flat earth, he would not have landed in America. If Benjamin Franklin were to not question the occurrence of lightning during thunder storms, he would not have discovered electricity. I'm sure you get my point without alluding to any further examples.
What makes questioning such a valuable practice is not the act of questioning itself, but the knowledge that is gained during the act of searching for answers. However, few people actually understand (much less attain) the knowledge that can be found through questioning.
When I look at society and how people handle faith based questions, I see three different classifications. The first type of group involves people that are afraid to question. Predominantly these are these are the traditionalists. We will refer to them as Group A. In this group, the people already have all the answers they will ever need. To Group A, the way things have always been are the way things should always be.
When questioned, they will immediately retort an answer that has been engrained in them since a young age. Generally it is the answer that is the most accepted by other members of Group A. These answers are taught to be the only answers to that question, and while there are derivatives of that answer, they do not stray far from the meaning. In most instances, they are given the answers before they even know the questions.
If a question is proposed to individuals of Group A to which they do not know, or do not have the answer, it is regarded as an inappropriate question. These questions are never sought out. They are often excused with verbal gestures such as “You should not be asking those type of questions” or the infamous “We aren't meant to know the answer. That is what faith is for”. By following these methods, Group A rarely goes beyond the basic knowledge of what members of their own group already know.
The same knowledge is reiterated from generation to generation and rarely ever goes deeper than the surface. If you were to ask a member of Group A what they believe, they would tell you something that may sound cliché'-ish, because it will not be from their own mind, but from the minds of their predecessors.
The next group, Group B, is the type that is not afraid of new questions. In fact, just the idea of questioning something greatly intrigues them. They are, more often than not, despised by members of Group A and commonly looked upon as “lost” or “evil”. For the weaker members of Group B, they may enjoy questioning, but suppress them because of the criticisms of Group A, and therefore these weaker members fall from Group B back into the confines of Group A.
Most members of this group are former members of Group A who refused to believe that every question already had a set answer and should not be sought any further. These were the first rebels. They accommodate a freer way of thinking and tend to question everything if only because they want to contradict the basis of Group A. Emerging from this group are different and new ideas, thoughts that break the confines of the ordinary box, and the ideology that questions don't have to have one answer.
This group does have one major flaw, however. In their excitement about questions, they often forget to pursue the answer to these questions. In neglecting this action, they never gain any knowledge from the questions they ask. They are content with the sole fact that there is a question because they know that something as simple as a question can shake the entire foundation of any member of Group A therefore converting them into becoming a member of Group B.
Searching for answers to questions is never their intent. Their intent is just to arise questions. This is what differentiates them from our third group. If you were to ask a member of Group B what they believe, they will give you a plethora of different responses and will give you reasons as to why believing in something is or isn't necessary. And while doing so, they will not give you a direct answer.
Most of society, when it comes to faith, falls into the two categories above, but there is a Group C. This group begins as a spawn of Group A, being steeped in tradition and given answers before they know the questions. As in both Group A and Group B, they are soon overwhelmed by questions of faith. Unlike Group A, they refuse to suppress these questions and unlike Group B, they refuse to stop at the mere fact that there is a question. The leaders in Group A are the ones that seem to have the most answers.
