Arrogance – The Roadblock to Truth"

Ancient westerners held that the Earth was the center of the universe. Copernicus and Galileo were condemned and punished by the Roman Church for suggesting otherwise.

Africans and Native Americans were believed to be inferior creatures to Europeans and slavery was therefore justified.

Europeans felt their civilization was superior and the world was carved up into European Empires. Existing cultures and nations were destroyed or subdued and their riches plundered.

Darwin proposed that humans were descended from Apes and this theory was mocked and condemned for over a century.

French Field Marshall Foch declared in 1918 that the “aeroplane” was “a curious toy but of no essential military value.”

In the early 1890’s the Commissioner of the Patent Office testified in Congress that the Office should be eliminated because everything that could be invented – had been invented.

Scientific papers were written in the 1950’s asserting that space travel to the moon was not possible.

The Chairman of IBM stated in 1980 that “there would never be any market for a small computer for business or home use.”

And the list goes on. We could spend all morning thinking of things that people and whole nations have believed as infallible truth only to find that their ideas were completely in error or morally abhorrent.

How many times have you argued with someone, absolutely confident that your point of view was the correct one – only to find that the other person was absolutely confident that their point of view was the correct one. Both people cannot be right in such arguments, yet both people believe that they are.

Those of you, who come from a Christian background, and particularly a Catholic background, may recall the notion of the “sin of pride” (or hubris). There is actually quite a bit of emphasis in Hebrew and Christian scripture on pride which can be translated as arrogance.

Satan was cast out of heaven because of his overconfidence and arrogance. Adam and Eve were cast out of Eden’s paradise because of their arrogance and refusal to abide by one rule. Jonah was swallowed by a sea monster because of his arrogance and so on. Pride and arrogance are common themes throughout the Bible. The repeated message is that pride and arrogance keep a person from connecting with truth and therefore, it is explained, they are prevented from connecting with God.

Arrogance is hardly restricted to religious matters. It’s everywhere there are humans. How many times have you heard scholars condemning each other’s ideas as nonsense. How many times have you heard politicians condemning the other side’s ideas as hopelessly flawed.

Even businesses can be arrogant. Whole companies go out of business because their leadership refuses to change with the times. I remember walking into a chain store in Washington DC some years ago with a colleague of mine. The store was like a Woolworths or Five and dime. My friend’s comment was “Gee this is like stepping into a time machine and going back to the 1950’s.”

He was right… it was like going back to the 50’s. Obviously this chain’s management was so confident of their 1950 strategy that they never changed or modernized. It is no surprise that their stores around the Washington area are now all closed.

The point of all of this is that when we become so confident in ourselves; so certain that we are right, we close our minds to other possibilities and we slowly slide into a deep arrogance. Such a state prevents us from ever reaching beyond ourselves and exploring other ways of thinking.

Unfortunately, arrogance takes many forms and is often so subtle we don’t even see it. When we look back at historical viewpoints we often shake our heads in disbelief. How could anyone think that Europeans were a superior species to other human beings on Earth? How could anyone morally enslave another person? How could anyone believe the Earth is flat? How could anyone believe a god controls the sun and another the rain, and another the soil? How could anyone believe there are demons and evil spirits?

When we consider these beliefs we recognize them as prescientific and we lift our heads and shine our hallows and feel thankful that we live under a banner of reason and rationality.

There is nothing innately wrong with reason and rationality. Human reason is a great thing and it has enabled humanity to rise from a crude and humble past and create marvelous civilizations. For better or worse it has allowed us to dominate the planet and take our first tiny steps into the infinite cosmos. Reason and rationality have helped us to create democracy and they have created justice systems that strive for equity in human relations. These are all good things.

But when reason and rationality are combined with arrogance, dangerous things can occur; things that block us from finding truth or even trying to search for it. This type of arrogance can even be harmful and destructive.

The Nazi approach to social order and European dominance was based on reason and they took a rational approach in implementing their views. Their arrogance prevented them from seeing the truth behind their twisted ideas and the destruction and death that they perpetrated was vast and horrifying.

In this country, every attempt to exclude a particular group from equity in our society has been rationally arrived at and derived by reason. Black people are inferior to white people, therefore, segregation is OK. Women are not as capable as men, therefore, they should not receive the same salary as a man. A gay person has chosen to be attracted to persons of the same sex, therefore they will be attracted to children of the same sex.

As Unitarian Universalists, we recognize not only the flaws in the arguments that support these views, we see such viewpoints as inherently destructive and demeaning. Every act of prejudice, every attempt to categorize a group, every action that stereotypes behavior is an act of arrogance. It sets us apart from our brother and sister humans and covers the truth just as clouds block the sun’s light.

We see the Salem witch trials, the Scopes trial, and the McCarthy hearings in the same context. We recognize the arrogance in such actions and we as a denomination make every effort to combat it. We know that such arrogance blocks the truth and prevents one from seeing others as potentially whole human beings with the same rights and privileges that we have.

As a denomination, socially, I think we do a pretty good job at combining reason and rationalism with love not arrogance; at least we try very hard to do so and we do recognize the harmful affects of arrogance.

In our spiritual affairs and in our everyday actions, I am not so sure that we as individuals do such a good job.

Unitarian Universalism is a rational, reason-based religion. As our Principles and Purposes state in part, “our living tradition draws from many sources (including) humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit.”

The problem, once again, is that if our reason and rational approach is overlaid with arrogance, we will be prevented from finding (or even seeking) the truth. Arrogance in this regard can damage our spiritual self and can lead us into feelings of isolation, if not despair.

For over a half a century since the 1930’s, Unitarian Universalism gradually “unpacked” conventional Christianity and removed it from the mainstream of Unitarian Universalist thinking. In its place we adopted a strong humanist approach and dismissed the importance of the spiritual. At times we have even condemned religious thinking as unscientific and superstitious.

To a large extent these actions have produced very important and profound results. By focusing on humanist issues, we as a denomination have far exceeded our numbers in the influence that we have wielded in helping to enact civil rights legislation, promote women’s rights, and promote LGBTQ + rights. We have also provided a safe home for those who want a haven from a non-creedal, non-dogma based religion.

These are good things. But the problem I see is that our denomination has also pushed away the spiritual. We have also avoided issues that are outside the realm of science. What is the purpose of the universe? How and why did it come to be? What is the purpose of my life? Why is there evil and injustice in the world? What will happen to me when I die?

Unitarian Universalism is not the Ethical Culture Society. We are supposed to be a spiritual organization even though we have avoided talking about this for a long, long time. With the ability to find and adapt one’s own theological convictions we are indeed, the most unique of the world’s religions. There is room here for the atheist, for the agnostic, for the Christian, for the pagan, for the Buddhist, for the Moslem and for those like me who believe in a piece of all of these religions and viewpoints.

The danger of arrogance is that we can fail to recognize our spiritual diversity and instead, insist on only one viewpoint, one way of thinking. Such arrogance prevents us as individuals from seeking truth. If and when we are so certain that we are right, we stop considering alternative ideas and views.

As I have told you before, I believe my job as a minister is not to convert anyone to a particular belief structure. What each one of us believes must be derived from our own thinking and our own exploration. My job is to make you think; to try to help you challenge all that you believe to be true and all that you believe to be untrue.

When it comes to the issue of God, for example, I have and will continue to encourage you to see the sacred, to see God – not as the Judeo, Christian, Moslem view as a man in the clouds but through many other ways as well. A large number of native American cultures believed in God but saw God as nature itself. Hindus see God as everything that exists – as the ultimate realty. Buddhists, like Hindus see God as all things (not as a being) but contend that what we see does not truly exist as we see it. (Actually, today’s quantum physics tells us this viewpoint is correct.)

Spirituality is about connecting with the sacred – however you define it. There is no one right way to view the sacred. Each of us views it in different ways.

There is nothing wrong with being confident in one’s religious and spiritual viewpoint. There is nothing wrong with articulating this view in discussions. The danger comes when confidence in one’s view is replaced by arrogance.

The Fundamentalist Christian and the Fundamentalist Humanist are both wrong and because of their intransigence, both are prevented from seeking new truth and, perhaps, finding new answers.

I myself am often guilty of arrogance. I spend a lot of time contemplating the spiritual. Because of my love of science and history and my compulsion to explore the spiritual dimension, I spend a lot of time trying explain and define the sacred. Through my reason and my rational approach, I often think I have found great answers to explaining the sacred – what some call God.

In particular, my love of Astronomy and Cosmology has enabled me, so to speak, to see the handiwork of the sacred. Far from utilizing a superstitious approach, it is science that gets me in touch with what I call the “God Event.” I see nothing as “supernatural”, but instead, I see everything, including God as natural…..as part and parcel of the cosmos.

And yet in seeing and trying to explain all of these things, I am often arrogant; for I am the created being trying to explain the infinite and the ultimate. If this is not arrogance, nothing is.

Thomas Aquinas was a thirteenth century Dominican monk. He was one of the greatest philosophers of the Catholic Church. Throughout his life he wrote prolifically and his dozens of works affected Church thinking down to the present day. Toward the end of his life, Thomas stopped writing and his famous words referring to his writings were “all of these (his works) are nothing but straw.” Thomas Aquinas came to realization that he could not explain the unexplainable – he could not explain God and to try to do so was arrogance of the first order.

I guess I have to be careful here because I do not want to give the impression that I see no value in the search. On the contrary, it is the search for ultimate answers that I find to be spiritually enlightening.

It is my search through Astronomy, Cosmology, through human history and now Quantum Physics, where I have been lead to profound and breathtaking discoveries. The search is important. It is very important because searching for the ultimate brings one in touch with the universe around them and exposes them to wonder and awe. These are very important things. Failing to seek truth is like shutting down all of one’s senses. We will experience nothing new, nothing profound, nothing that will give us new meaning in our lives.

The danger comes from arrogance. When we are certain that we have found an answer or if we are certain that no answer can be found, we stop searching and we become closed minded and dogmatic. We can even offer up our ideas as a new form of idolatry. Even worse we can make ourselves our own new God. “Nothing lies beyond myself and my worldview” so to speak.

Academic arrogance prevents a scholar from discovering new ideas. Business arrogance can lead to bankruptcy. Social arrogance can lead to prejudice, to hatred, and to inequity and injustice in human relations. Spiritual arrogance can prevent one from seeking the truth and discovering profound new meaning in life.

When we open our heart and our mind, arrogance disappears and great things can occur. Arrogance is poison to the spirit and it kills one’s relation with the sacred.

It is no great surprise that the world’s great religious founders and leaders have been humble, not arrogant men and women. It is also no great surprise that ALL of the world’s religions promote humbleness and see arrogance as an impediment to spiritual growth.

As Unitarian Universalists we have long recognized the dangers of arrogance in social matters. We must do the same in matters of the spirit.

Let us learn to seek answers to life’s questions with a renewed sense of our humble status as human beings and with a vision that recognizes that truth lies beyond one set of answers or one way of thinking.

Reverend Christopher McMahon

UUMH

February 9, 2025