Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
New Visions
Health, Fitness and Religion
All Beliefs are Assumptions

All Beliefs are Assumptions

Last updated on: August 7, 2025 at 11:41 am by Karl J. Forehand

All Beliefs are Assumptions 2025-08-07T11:41:37-06:00 Karl J. Forehand

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Photo by Brett Sayles: https://www.pexels.com/

All Beliefs are Assumptions

Once you realize all beliefs are assumptions,
your life begins to change for the better.

~ Karl Forehand

I grew up hearing the phrase, “God said it, I believe it, that settles it!” Since I started deconstructing, these kinds of assumptions have raised many questions and few answers.

First, how do we know God said it without initially assuming that God exists, and how can we verify what He actually said? My friends, over the years, have credited all kinds of things to hearing God’s voice. Back then, I couldn’t trust myself to distinguish between good and evil (because I was taught to think that way), so I believed in an ancient manuscript and accepted the assumptions and guesses that my leaders took from their predecessors.

Second, I came to understand the Dunning-Kruger effect, which describes a disturbing cognitive bias that affects us all. People with limited knowledge in an area tend to overestimate how much they know, and we all have gaps in our expertise.[1]

Looking back over the years, I realize I drew most of my spiritual guidance from these types of men. They were good at recognizing their assumptions, but they rarely looked beyond the comfort of their own beliefs.

If there is a God, He/She/They should communicate more effectively.

When I realized that my beliefs were assumptions, I began to explore other belief systems and worldviews. I understood what I didn’t know for sure, and I looked for answers and understanding without feeling the need to agree entirely with anything or stop seeking what I didn’t know. It was tempting to say, “This is my new truth,” but I resisted, realizing that my desire for connection was guiding me.

From there, I explored what a genuine connection and community truly are and realized that most religious communities are heavily constructed and driven more by dopamine and other chemicals than by having the correct and perfect beliefs about God and the afterlife. I found real community today with my friend, Kyle Butler, when we shared about our relationships with family members. I know this happens at church, but in religion, it’s less about beliefs and more about our natural need for connection and our desire to connect with others.

If we could remove the indoctrination aspect of religion, I see the benefit of “assembling together.” Connection is essential, but when doctrine, assumptions, and influence dominate, the audience loses the plot of being kind and loving their neighbor. The storyline shifts to convincing the world that our assumptions are correct and demonizing anyone who disagrees. “Unbelievers” are persecuted, shamed, and shunned, and others go along with it for their survival. Indoctrinating (evangelizing) becomes the top priority, and empathy, compassion, and love fall behind.

What are your assumptions leading to in your life? For me, it was arrogance, fear/control, and separating myself from my neighbor. I lived in a dualistic, “us versus them” world where I always believed I was right and thought God was on my side. After letting go of this tight-fisted grip on my assumptions, my life shifted toward being a journey of exploration and discovery rather than a need for agreement and control.

Keep asking questions. You can learn a lot more when you realize how much you don’t know.

BE where you are, Be who you are, Be at peace!

Karl Forehand

[1] https://www.openmindmag.org/articles/david-dunning-on-expertise

How to Survive a Stroke

Learn to be Where You Are (Presence)

Learn to be Who You Are (Authenticity)

Finding Regulating and Somatic Healing

Getting Away From Your Trauma

Getting Out of Survival Mode

Are you genuinely committed to deconstruction and seeking more profound answers?

If that’s the case, this book was created for you. As a former pastor, I made the mistake of deconstructing a bit and then trying to start something new, as I was trained to do. The problem with that approach is that I wasn’t ready to begin something new.

I hadn’t delved deeply enough or asked enough questions. The first stage of deconstruction typically includes assessing our beliefs regarding hell and the afterlife, supporting queer individuals and women in their fight for equality, and achieving a better understanding of racism and privilege.

Many people in deconstruction communities expend significant effort criticizing Evangelicals and attempting to gain a following. While I believe they deserve intense criticism, this strategy fails to effectively tackle the problem because they generally don’t listen to us!

Our tendency to punish our former organizations sometimes overlooks the challenging process of healing and growth. It is the same trap we fell into in our former associations.

Order Now!

Campfires occupy a special spot in the mosaic of history. They act as communal hubs across different cultures and faiths. The campfire’s circular design fosters equal participation within the collective group. The flames at the center draw our focus and encourage face-to-face interactions as we exchange experiences, wisdom, and insights about the world beyond. It is where legendary myths and tales are born.

Order Now – Study Questions in each chapter!

This book is named Campfires in the Desert as it stems from nearly 400 discussions we held with individuals on our podcast, The Desert Sanctuary, and our aspiration to improve.

Available now!

Thanks for considering us, autographed copies are $20

Karl Forehand Campfires in the Desert – A Soft Book Release. Karl Forehand is a former pastor, podcaster, and award-winning author. His books include Out into the Desert, Leaning Forward, Apparent Faith: What Fatherhood Taught Me About the Father’s Heart, The Tea Shop, and Being: A Journey Toward Presence and Authenticity. He is the creator of The Desert Sanctuary podcast and community. He has been married to his wife Laura for 35 years and has one dog named Winston. His three children are grown and are beginning to multiply! You can read more about the author here.

Progressive Christian

Health, Fitness and Religion

Family, Parenting and Religion

Previous Post

August 5, 2025

Behavior as Communication

Next Post

August 9, 2025 Does God Change?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abuse Addiction Advent adventure Alpha Male Animals Answers Attachment Attitude authenticity Authenticty Authentiicity Awareness being Bible Black Community BLM body awarenss book Books Bravery Bullying Bypassing Certainty Certianty Chamge change children Christianity Christmas Church Comfort community Compaasion Compassion Complementarian Complementarianism Conditioning Consciousness Contemplation Control Conversation Converstations Covid-19 Creation Darkness Death Debate deconstruction demons depression desert Devil Disciples discussion Divine dreams Easter Eclipse Empathy Essence evolution evolve faith fatherhood Fear fiction Flood Focus Focusing Focussing Future Genesis Goals God Gratitude grief growth Guns Hate healing Health Heart Hell Holiday Hypnosis ignorance Improvement infallible Inner Child Integrity Intuition Jesus Jezebel Journey King LGBTQ+ Love MAGA Marriage meditation Men Mercy Message metaphysical Mindfulness Misogyny Mourning Music Mystic mystical Narcissism Nationalism Nature New Year Novel Nutrition Organization other Pain Pandemic parenting Pastors Patriarchy Patriotism Personal Growth Plan Poet poets Police politics Power practice praise Prayer presence pro-life Problem Solving Progress prolife Prophet prophets Purity Culture Purpose Queer Questions Racism Rape Rapture reconstruction Recovery Religion Resolutions Restoration Resurrection Retribution Reviews Root Cause Sanctuary Satan SBC Scripture Seeking Self-Care Self-esteem Seminary Sex Shadow shame social justice social media solitude Spirits Spirituality stillness Story Survivor Thanksgiving Theologians Theology Tradition Trauma travel Trump Uncategorized Unchurching Universe Violence Vision Voice Volunteer Vulnerability War Women Word worship Writing

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What tax collector wrote a Gospel and was called by Jesus?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Barnabas Mark Matthew Luke

Books by This Author Books by The Desert Sanctuary

See All Titles »