Why is faith important?

[jstrodel]

But if you consider that nearly every society in history from Jews (with Hasidic mysticism) to Christians (with the Catholics and charismatic mystics) to Muslims (they have their own mystical tradition) to Hindu's (a variety of mystical traditions) and Buddhists (also emphasize the supernatural) and animists, wicca, satanism and various other groups, shamans, has had some sort of tradition of the spiritual world.

So...the testominies of superstitious ancient people who had no/minimal understanding of science...are now valid? If so many people knew these things, wouldn't it be public knowledge by now?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/m...paranormal

It is public knowledge, outside of atheist circles. Most people in history have accepted the reality of miracles, and most people in history have experienced miracles directly.

I fail to see how having a knowledge of science invalidates their testimony. By that standard human lack of understanding of the processes that existed before the big bang would invalidate our entire worldview and everything that we know today. Of course that isn't true, and if there was some sort of science tomorrow that could explain the big bang, that was not consistent with modern science, that use some vastly superior method, that would not invalidiate what we know today anymore than the Greeks lack of knowledge about science invalidates their understanding of philosophy.

What you dismiss as superstition with no evidence other people have held to with the much stronger form of evidence of their testimony.

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Nuclear physics is well documented with lots of peer reviewed articles about what it is, how it works, the history of how the discoveries came about.

That does not prove that it could possibly be known apart from a very specific procedur involved in knowing it.

You picked a very poor strawman and WTF is a history lab?
History is archaeology sometimes they use chemists sometimes they use biologists but a history lab?

A place in which historical objects are analyzed using historical methods, like the ones that you have mentioned. It is not a straw-man, if you are demanding that all ancient culture conforms to some sort of science or modern method, why not demand that all of nuclear physics conforms to historical methods?

I think if someone doesn't use historical methods on everything, it must be because they are superstitious.

No it isn't.

Its stories that some people choose to believe because they want to believe.

You just made an assertion without argument or evidence.