"Believe, That You May Understand" Burke

Burke's essay on "Terministic Screens" gave me a lot to think about, considering the way he takes big concepts and abstracts them with the idea of symbols. Probably my favorite part of his essay is when he talks about the terminologies applied to different things, like theology or metaphysics. He uses the religious phrase "Believe, that you may understand" (Burke 47). His analysis basically states that this theological reasoning people seem to possess is only possible after they have already applied their faith, so "faith must 'precede' the rationale" (47), which actually makes a lot of sense. I had to stop and think about this idea in application to my own conversations. If you were brought up around religion, I'm sure you can relate to this, but I remember sitting in my living room with a bunch of adults from church arguing points of religion. It seemed like they could argue forever about a simple terminology that would distinguish one sect from another. And their arguments seemed to follow such a logical path. But then I wonder, what would an Atheist, whose logic is to not have faith, to not believe, think about these arguments I considered logical? The thought really enforces Burke's idea that faith must come before the rationale can be rational. This example encompasses the bulk of his argument I think. It's all about directing the attention.

He then goes on to talk about how much of our "reality" is based on our involvement in symbol systems (48), something I found really fascinating. I think this can also be applied to the previous example though. Whatever terministic screen these religious zealots are apparently using defines their reality. Their rationale and logic is as real and reasonable to them as anything, despite the fact its based on faith. It's strange to think about the way that this concept of "reality" can function differently than another's "reality" simply based on a word or a symbolic interpretation. Burke really helps me see the social impact and the pervasive power of language as symbols.