I think that Descartes brings up a very good point. Many people question the logical standing of other individual’s beliefs and opinions for many plausible reasons. Politics and Religious practices for many people seem as if they are only built into one’s character due to their parents’ influence. When you grow up your entire life hearing one thing consistently, there seems to be no reason for you to question it. The people who you trust most in the world are the ones giving you the information so when you are young and still forming your individual character, there is no reason for questions because there seems to be no logical reason you can see that refutes the statement.
As stated before, a major example of this would be religious beliefs. I grew up in a Christian home and attended a southern Baptist church. Looking at it from a logical stand point, I didn’t have much of a choice in this. My parents made me wake up every Sunday morning and they drove, there was not much questioning, it just had always been that way. Once I started college though, I had to make the decision to wake up early on Sunday mornings and drive myself to church. This made me start to question something I had believed my entire life. Was I going to church just because my parents made me go every week or did I actually believe what was being taught at church? And when people asked me why I gave up sleeping in to go to church, I didn’t know if I would be able to answer them because I didn’t know either. In the end I think that it was a mixture of both; I had to go to church as a child because that was a ritual that my family followed but soon I began understanding and believing the teachings. But I had to come to that conclusion for myself.
The truth is that it seems easier to hold on to these things. It is sort of like when you have to get your first job as a teenager. It was easier when my parents gave me money, spending it was no big deal because I knew that if would be replenished no questions asked. But when I actually had to work for my money, spending it is a little bit harder because you know that it will not come as easily. The same is true for your beliefs and opinions. In order to support your statements you not only need to be educated about the entire subject and both sides of the argument but you also need to be able to hold strong to what you are claiming. Raising questions means starting from scratch, you can’t even use what you have previously known. It seems like unnecessary work for some you already sort of have.
I agree with Descartes that it is better to question and examine your beliefs. It is easy for people to have an opinion but to support it is a different story. If you are going to believe something, make sure that you believe it for yourself and not for anyone else because at the end of the day you have to answer for yourself. But also, once you have established a solid and concrete opinion then you need not question it.