“Surely Sincerity Is What Counts”

We sometimes hear people say that what truly matters isn’t what you believe but how sincere you are in your belief. But is sincerity really enough?

Of course, sincerity is important. However, the sincerity with which someone holds a particular belief must be carefully distinguished from its truthfulness. To illustrate this, imagine a child accessing a medicine cupboard and pulling out some pills. The child sincerely believes that the pills are sweets. So convinced is the child that he decides to eat them. What will happen? Something very tragic. Despite his sincerity, the child’s belief that the pills are sweets does not change their actual nature. He may believe with all his heart that the bottle contains sweets, but the contents remain potentially lethal.

A person’s belief about an object (or state of affairs) must be clearly separated from the reality of that object or state of affairs. One may be sincere and yet sincerely wrong. Sincerity does not determine truth. It would be cruel to tell a blind man standing on the edge of a cliff that it doesn’t matter which way he steps, as long as he is sincere. A position can be narrow and wrong, or it can be narrow and right.

Sincerely believing something doesn’t make it true. If I board a broken plane and sincerely believe it won’t crash, my sincerity is meaningless. It won’t change the facts. Our beliefs, no matter how deeply held, have no effect on reality. What truly matters is not the sincerity of our faith, but the object of our faith, and whether it corresponds to reality. Truth remains true, even if no one likes, admits, agrees with, or recognises it; it is independent of our beliefs - true truth is about what aligns with an actual state of affairs.

So, if sincerity isn’t enough, what is the object of your faith, and does it correspond to reality?

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