East vs. West: Authority and Reason

Nabeel Quresh:

     When my parents taught me to examine my beliefs, I was essentially expected to build a defense for what they had taught me.  In [my philosophy of knowledge class], we were ostensibly doing the same thing--examining our beliefs--but in practice, it was the exact opposite. We were critically probing our beliefs, challenging them, testing them for weak points, pliability, and boundaries. Some students were even replacing them.
     The difference between Eastern and Western education can be traced to the disparity that divides Muslim immigrants from their children: Islamic cultures tend to establish people of high status as authorities, whereas the authority in Western culture is reason itself.  These alternative seats of authority permeate the mind, determining the moral outlook of whole societies.
     When authority is derived from position rather than reason, the act of questioning leadership is dangerous because it has the potential to upset the system.  Dissension is reprimanded, and obedience is rewarded.  Correct and incorrect courses are assessed socially, not individually.  A person's virtue is thus determined by how well he meets social expectations, not by an individual determination of right and wrong.  Thus, positional authority yields a society that determines right and wrong based on honor and shame.
      Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity                            (Zondervan, 2014), pp.107-8.

On Independent Thinking

Reposted from the Maverick Philosopher

Properly enacted, independent thinking is not in the service of self-will or subjective opining, but in the service of submission to a higher authority, truth itself.  We think for ourselves in order to find a truth that is not from ourselves, but from reality. The idea is to become dependent on reality, rather than on institutional and social distortions of reality. Independence subserves a higher dependence.

It is worth noting that thinking for oneself is no guarantee that one will arrive at truth. Far from it.  The maverick's trail may issue in a dead end.  Or it may not.  The world is littered with conflicting opinions generated from the febrile heads of people with too much trust in their own powers. But neither is submission to an institution's authority any assurance of safe passage to the harbor of truth. Both the one who questions authority and the one who submits to it can end up on a reef. 'Think for yourself' and 'Submit to authority' are both onesided pieces of advice.

And you thought things were easy?