Authority Hates Questions

…but it needs them.

I’m 13 years old, it’s a cold winter night in Spokane, Washington and I'm sitting in my church's youth group service. The story of Adam and Eve comes up. Specifically the idea that every man and woman in the world came from just two people. Someone brings up incest…

I begin questioning why God would use incest to populate the earth. I argue that maybe Adam’s son Cain left and found a wife, but the youth pastor quickly rejects that idea.

After some back and forth, I force the youth pastor to read the verses in Genesis, that he says proves his point, to the entire youth group. A few minutes later we all discover that it doesn’t say anything about Cain marrying his sister. He is wrong. In front of everyone.

Yes, it was probably a silly point to argue, but as a young teenager, I immediately realized that authority can be wrong. This was an eye-opening moment for me. I began to question everyone.

“Respect authority while questioning it. “ — Randy Pausch

Unfortunately (fortunately), I wasn’t taught to agree with authority. I wasn’t taught to disrespect authority, but my parents did teach me to question it.

As you might expect, the idea of questioning authority doesn’t jive well with, you guessed it, authority. I learned that those with authority that is never challenged, get pretty flustered when you push back a little.

Over the years, these “disagreements” became more prevalent with pastors, bosses, teachers, professors, and honestly, whoever would be willing to exchange blows with me.

It’s amazing how much you learn about people and their beliefs when you say… “but why?”.

When you move past the discomfort of disagreement, you move towards wisdom and enlightenment.

Dangerous Thinking: Question Everything…And Everyone

Whenever possible, challenge authority. Offer at least one question. Ask open-ended questions to help flush out errors or important issues that could arise down the road.

Be okay with asking slightly dumb questions. There are never dumb questions, just dumb mistakes. A well-thought-out question forces critical thought and this is essential to refining an idea and weeding out risks.

Ask questions like: “why is that happening?”, “have we considered this…?”, “what if we do this instead?”, “how come we don't do this?”.

Think of this as an opportunity to ask questions that help everyone better understand the topic at hand. Questioning also provides courage to others that feel similar but don’t dare to say something. Additionally, this will also provide an opportunity to flush out errors or blind spots that will inevitably come up later.

You and everyone listening will be better off for doing so.

Challenging authority requires courage. Be couragous.

Question everything. Question everyone.