Comparing Scientism, Faith, and Magical Thinking

Over the years, we have all seen the battle between religion and science, faith and logic, belief and reason, Christian and Atheists, or however it is called in the latest stir-up. These contrived battles between perceived ‘opposites’ put many of us into thought camps that may make us hold on to fallacies much longer than we should. I was raised in a family of faith that wanted to make sure I never succumbed to science’s intellectualism, which has helped me hold on to a few ‘magical beliefs’ much longer than I should have. Today, I want to discuss the contrasts between scientism, faith, and magical thinking.

What is scientism?

Excessive belief in the power of scientific knowledge and techniques. That the hard sciences provide the only genuine knowledge of reality.

What is magical thinking?

Magical thinking is the idea that by a grand sacrifice, magical action, or special connection, you can earn special privileges to information or prevent causally unrelated misfortunes to you or others.¹

In early June, YouTube introduced the term ‘magical thinking’ into my vocabulary. The concept labeled a struggle I have had with conversations that include the phrases like, ‘God told me I should … and it didn’t make sense. But I did it.’ This wording often starts many amazing faith-building stories; However, my cynicism about the initial guidance often left me pondering instead of hearing the conclusion of their faith journey.

Maybe the above phrase doesn’t bother you or has never made you think. Another phrasing that often triggers me sounds like; ‘I paid my tithing every month. I don’t understand why I can never make ends meet.’ or ‘I don’t know why my fasting hasn’t brought my son back to church.’ Lately, some of the most complicated phrases from young adults I have engaged include;

• ‘I prayed to God to know if it was true, and He didn’t answer, so it isn’t.’ As if God is willing to vomit Wikipedia responses like Google. Or even if the young adult is trying with deep intent as if the answer comes in a neatly printed quote in easy-to-understand language.
• ‘I feel the spirit when I am living in “sin,” so it must be that God is OK with it.’ Where feeling is conveyed as distinct from reason and rationality. As if to say, If I tingle, then that must be from God. One only needs to listen to Joseph to know how fraught feelings and perception are without reason (D&C 128:20 and D&C 3).
• ‘I don’t feel the same “magic” that I felt on the mission, so this new feeling of complexity must be a sign it isn’t true.’ Faith is about transformation. Cheap faith is just titillation without depth of perception. Never confuse the two.² When we transform, we never feel the way we did in the past – we will feel more. When we experience the titillation of magical thinking, we need more and more and feel less.
• ‘It just never engaged me after my conversion.’ The ‘it’ seems to be the gospel or maybe the Holy Ghost, but the comment presupposes too much of a magic show to start. I wonder if there is a bit of an overpromise from the missionaries. To sell or perceive faith in God as a series of Avenger fight scenes that get grander and grander is to feel less in the end.

These phrases make me think there is too much of ‘magical thinking’ floating in the air. I believe there is a way to interpret all of them that wouldn’t bother me. If the speakers of those phrases seek guidance on tackling those problems as they work in partnership with God and those around them, then it could be that it is just a matter of wording. However, suppose they expect a magical God to change the kingdom’s laws, remove another’s agency, be their benevolent dictator, or respond like a cosmic vending machine. In that case, I think my triggers may be justified.

‘Magical thinking’ too often leads the Christian faithful into cultish behavior of manipulation and unreasoned trust. Adam Miller recently said that we often ‘choose the hollow isolation of fantasies over the shared difficulty of God’s reality’ as another way to describe the topic. Whether ignoring God’s or physical reality to justify the ‘feeling in our heart’, we are dipping heavily into ‘magical thought.’ During the January 6th Hearings, a Republican election board member named Gabriel Sterling described an exchange with a fellow Republican lawyer that concluded with him saying, ‘Once you get [to magical thinking], the facts don’t matter as much.³

Wisely, some break free of the ‘magical thinking’, but they think the key to loosening the shackles is scientific antagonism as the only viable alternative. They live in a single-choice model where it is either ‘faith’ as defined by ‘Magical Thinking’ or science as defined by ‘scientism’ and they don’t think they have a different choice. As the diagram below shows, many believe they must play an impossible balancing act between science and God.

Isn’t faith just a type of magical thinking?

I know that ‘magical thinking’ is not a synonym for faith. However, so many examples of faith often align with the above phrases that I wondered if I could explain the difference or if anyone thought there was a difference. Alice Mills of poemachronicles.com provided a post that asked just this question. I enjoyed her concluding paragraphs.

I find this a difficult subject to write about, in part because I have fooled myself time and again. I believe in miracles. I have experienced them first hand. But magical thinking does not produce them. It is faith that brings about the kingdom of God. The key to discerning the difference is humility, I believe. Are we willing to be guided by the loving but firm hand of the Lord? My submission to Him always requires giving up some aspect of magical thinking.

I have witnessed many earnest Christians led astray by the idea that if they just believe, wildly, blindly, for what they want, God will give it to them. As a person who believes that prayer is mighty, I find the difference to be subtle yet telling. When I am focused on my desire, my thinking goes astray. When I am focused on God’s will at all costs, miracles follow. Take your magical thinking captive, lay your desires on the altar, and listen for His voice. Your faith will make you well.

Alice’s quote helped explain my perceptions that there was a difference. However, as Alice’s quote implied, I still struggled to discern the difference.

Too often, we create awkward tribal battles as if only two tribes exist – scientism and magical thinking. The believers in scientism think the only other tribe is magical thinking and rightly fight with honor. The believers in magical thinking think the only other tribe is scientism and correctly fight with honor. They live in the ‘single-choice model’ of God or science. However, a valley of faith exists that firmly holds onto both where all should congregate.

The following diagram depicts God and Science as two mountains. By living in the valley of faith, we can see and leverage both benefits in our lives. Notice that once we cross into ‘magical thinking’ or ‘scientism’, we limit our view of the other mountain. The clouds hold quotes that describe life on the far side of the mountains. Finally, each of the smaller quotes is from Abraham Heschel that explains a perception of faith or religion which will push us in or out of the valley of faith, as shown by the arrow.⁴

I have lived a full life entirely entrenched in the community of science and church. I have experienced the perils of each of the outer valleys. A path of full scientism would walk me out of the valley of faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I think the extreme form of scientism ends in Jon Krakauer’s belief that ‘Faith is the very antithesis of reason’⁵, and that phrase is slightly more repulsive than God’s children having some magical beliefs.

Faith is not the antithesis of reason; the foundation of reason is the doctrine of faith. Nor is faith the disregard for logic and the scientific model of truth. We are not expected to believe things without experimenting upon them (Alma 32:27). In the end, It makes little difference if you weaken the foundation of faith with magical thinking or ignore faith with scientism. Both paths lead to a life outside of God’s fullness. I think I am saying that magical thinking could be the antithesis of faith, and scientism is similarly the antithesis of faith. Faith⁶ sits as the middle valley where God wants us to reside.

I believe God, first and foremost, is omnibenevolent (loving) and omnisapient (wise). We should look to Him in all our thoughts (D&C 6:36) as His support and guidance are, beyond comprehension, better than any plan or advice I could contrive or find from others. However, I don’t believe that God is a superhero or a magician that acts as if we are just members of a crowd that need a show or protection. He wants partners that reason on their own and trust in him, not puppets whom he controls.

In my next post, I will use the story of Gideon in Judges 6 & 7 to demonstrate the difference between ‘magical thinking’ and ‘faith’ as we partner with God.

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