Religion as quest values open-ended doubting over settled answers

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)

This scale included items such as: “It might be said that I value my religious doubts and uncertainties.” “God wasn’t very important to me until I began to ask questions about the meaning of my own life.” “Questions are far more central to my religious experience than are answers.” — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 2546 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Some form of religious thinking seems to be the path of least resistance for our cognitive systems. By contrast, disbelief is generally the result of deliberate, effortful work against our natural cognitive dispositions—hardly the easiest ideology to propagate. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 575 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Rethinking old interfaith controversies can yield fresh insight without ending disagreement; A scriptural divination resolved one doubt while deepening another; Quest religiosity is measurable through items endorsing doubt and questioning. — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years…, 2546 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Some religious believers approach faith as open-ended questioning that resists pat answers #exemplifies (0.93) — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 2037
• Quest religiosity is measurable through items endorsing doubt and questioning. #exemplifies (0.92) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 2546
• Religious thought defaults while disbelief requires deliberate cognitive effort #complicates (0.72) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 575