The comments I am sharing on this blog are inspired by faith — faith in human nature, faith in a spiritual dimension of human existence, and faith in a transcendent purpose to reality. These are expressions of faith that, historically, have stirred the deepest sources of human motivation inside us and awakened the human spirit.

I am not talking about a blind or irrational faith. Nor am I talking about a strident, fanatical, self-righteous faith. I am talking about a rational, humble, curious, questioning faith. I am talking about a faith that exists in harmony with science. Indeed, I am talking about a faith that embodies the scientific method. Faith, as I understand it, is a willingness to commit to an over-arching “hypothesis” about the nature of reality, and to test that hypothesis in the way one lives one’s life.

The hypothesis I am committed to is the hypothesis that humanity can construct a peaceful,  just, and sustainable social order, founded on the social application of the spiritual principles that are affirmed by all of the world’s great religions. Ultimately we cannot be certain at this point in history whether or not the construction of such an order is possible. There is clearly only one way to find out. Increasing numbers of people have to commit to a pattern of individual and collective life that allows us to test the possibility. This is rational faith — in action.

What is irrational, in my mind, is an unwillingness to test this hypothesis. We have nothing to lose. We have everything to gain. If the hypothesis proves invalid, we can always return to the ways of conflict, injustice, and ecological ruin.