An individual psychology of open-minded questioning exists within religious commitment

Evidence

C. Daniel Batson has proposed a more “existential” dimension to help us understand the connection between religiousness and prejudice: religion as quest (Batson and Ventis, 1982). … The Quest dimension concerns the degree to which the individual “seeks to face religious issues such as personal mortality or meaning in life in all their complexity, yet resists clear-cut, pat answers. An individual who approaches religion in this way recognized that he or she does not know, and probably never will know, the final truth about such matters. Still the questions are deemed important and, however tentative and subject to change, answers are sought” (Batson and Burris, 1994). — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 2037 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

By the time Rami arrived home, everything was fitting into place. It was just one night, begun with a small comment about marriage, but it made a world of difference to him. Now the religion made more sense. Up to this point, it had given him spiritual comfort and community. From this point on it appealed to his rationalist side, and he began seeing it through the lens of knowledge acquisition. The evening made him feel that he still had so much more to learn, but he understood that he was now a changed person. Before, Rami explained, he’d had his “foot in the water and was feeling around before jumping into the pool of deen.” But now, he said, he was gaining the confidence in himself “to take a dive headfirst and jump right in.” — Moustafa Bayoumi, How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? Being…, 877 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Religion as quest values open-ended doubting over settled answers; Religious quest and low prejudice share one underlying open-minded disposition; A single rationalist conversation can convert religious comfort into intellectual commitment — Moustafa Bayoumi, How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? Being…, 877 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Some religious believers approach faith as open-ended questioning that resists pat answers #exemplifies (0.92) — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 2037
• A single rationalist conversation can convert religious comfort into intellectual commitment #complicates (0.72) — Moustafa Bayoumi, How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? Being…, 877