By Emerson Abts / Chronicle contributor
"You gotta have faith!" So spoke old friend Bob Beasley, a north woodsman, when he gave us a sourdough starter. It came, Bob claimed, directly descended from a gold miner in the Klondike, circa 1890.
So I asked Bob how he knew it was authentic, and he smiled and related that he had asked the old prospector the same question. The miner grew angry, and swore, and then allowed "You gotta have faith."
People are very big on faith. They use the term most often when referring to religion. You must have faith in God. God is the source of blessing and will protect and give good life to all who have enough faith.
For Christians there is a book, the Bible, which is a library of 66 books. And if your faith is strong, you will find all the answers to life's problems there.
The skeptic will point out that there are many contradictions in the book, as well as statements that are simply wrong. No, says the unbeliever, the universe was not created in seven days, and Jesus did not walk on water, let alone rise from the dead.
And the quarrels continue. And many believers live by absolute, blind faith.
Religious faith is not the only kind of belief practiced by fundamentalists.
There's faith in democracy. We Democrats believe that the people, all the people, are best able to govern ourselves. And so we argue and debate and shout. And vote, and trust that the voice of the people is indeed the voice of God.
There's faith in society. We believe that the rules and laws by which we live are the most able to keep us prosperous and safe. So we drive our cars, believing that that car coming toward us will indeed stay in its own lane and not suddenly veer into ours.
And there is faith in capitalism. We believe that private ownership of home and business and tooth brush are basic rights. We believe that self interest is the natural state of humans and is the best way for humanity to live. We even may forget that love is still greater than faith or hope.
Then there is blind faith in capitalism. Many people believe that the capitalist system is the best and only way for society to exist. We must keep government with its greedy hands out of the Market and the Invisible Hand of capital will bring justice and peace and prosperity. Such a faith is just as blind as the belief that the Grand Canyon was formed in a day or so during the first seven days of creation.
Many capitalists have prospered exceedingly, especially since 1980. Once to be a billionaire was an unheard of thing. No longer. Once a man could get a job and support his family. No longer; today the wife must work as well.
Once, before greed became celebrated, a family paid their taxes without undue resentment. No longer; now any taxation is regarded as governmental theft of one's wealth.
Once capitalism, duly regulated, brought prosperity. No longer; now we have banks and financial institutions "too big to fail" and government must bail them out. It has been wisely said that we have socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor.
Blind, unthinking faith is not a good thing. Our present financial miseries stem directly from our blind faith in the all-good wisdom of the unregulated market.
Much of our religious difficulty stems from our unquestioning blind faith in an inerrant Bible and attendant creeds.
Still, we are people of faith. We trust that God does indeed love us. We trust that, properly regulated, capitalism again will work.
Meanwhile, enjoy your sourdough pancakes. You gotta have faith that that sponge really did come from the Yukon. It's more fun that way.
