Suspension Of Religious Knowledge In The Lord Of The Rings

We watch the movie “Lord of the Rings” and see Legolas sliding down steps on a shield while using his bow and arrow to kill Orcs, without doubting his skills. By us not questioning his actions nor inquiring how he can do the impossible, we are willingly suspending or disbelief. In my definition this means that you sacrifice realism and logic for the sake of enjoyment; you believe the unbelievable. The term is an essential part of theatre because as a narrator of any kind in theatre, you would want to create an allusion for the audience, which they believe without a doubt, like for “The Lord of the Rings”. The idea of suspension of disbelief is used in other areas of knowledge in order to understand and explain it, which is why it is essential

But what exactly does it mean to have a religious belief? In my own definition, it means to have a strong belief in a higher power that controls human destiny and is directly linked to faith. The higher power in Christianity, for example, is portrayed as a God, who is mentioned in the Bible. The members of this religious knowledge system have never actually seen God, their knowledge and beliefs are singularly based on what is written in the Bible. Although there is no visual proof of a supernatural power such as God, believers are motivated by universal beliefs in things we cannot see. Why would we believe something we can’t prove or see? Also, why do people believe in something that is proven to be wrong? This is because of the willing suspension of disbelief and faith. In general, we don’t know for sure that something as God or any higher power of such has ever lived or existed, but it gives people hope and therefore religious knowledge systems still incorporate and effectively uses suspension of disbelief. Willing suspension of disbelief is still used in religion since this is the only way that mankind believes in something and does not lose hope or faith. The idea of suspension of disbelief is that you don’t use any kind of rationalization to explain the impossible, so what if you could explain religious belief with logic? Can you rationalize faith, although by definition it is not rational? According to John Cottingham, who is an English philosopher, argues there is absolutely nothing to rationalize since religion is “all about one's feeling of absolute dependence and commitment” ("Religious Faith [...]”). In an interview, he says: “It is problematic if you think the only model for reasonable belief is a scientifically based on impartial assessment from evidence.