On Non-belief

[Brayton.l]

But you realize that the definition of faith I stated is an actual dictionary definition of the word?

And no, they're right. You're wrong. What else is there to back your belief other than faith?

And I reject the dictionary definition of the word. I reject any truth in the statement "faith is blind". And I obviously reject the theology your friends have. Do not assume I am like your friends. Christianity comes in many shapes and sizes.

Hebrews 11:1
"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."

Again, faith is trust. It does not have to be blind, especially when you consider the OT. Verses like this come to mind:

Exodus 13:7-9
"Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen with you, and no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory. You shall tell your son on that day, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt."

For the old testament Jew, faith was based in the action of God, those miracles. A common phrase to inspire trust is, "I, the Lord God who brought you out of Israel...". It's a faith based in God's own actions, and God explicitly uses this base to inspire faith.

Today, we do not get a cloud of fire by night or great miracles. However, today has the past, which includes these things. If we want, we can investigate the possibility of such things, which allows us further basis for our trust.

Darkstar asked me what the informed faith was, and I said,

"The 'backing' (which technically isn't required and people ignore it for God knows why) is most accurately understood in logical formula, but it is still present even without that."

I'd like to change the parenthetical "and" to "yet", but its far too late to edit a post.

As a biblical support to that, John 1 calls Jesus "the Word". In Latin, it is "Verbum", like the English "verb" meaning both word and action (he is creator), but the Greek uses "Logos", like the Engish "logic" meaning both reason and word. Both "action" and "logic" are also accurate descriptions (greek translations still use Logos, spanish uses Verbo), but the connotation of "logic" here is exactly what we think it is. Aqunias usually uses the word "Wisdom" when referring to this aspect (corresponds to Proverbs better).

This all seems like mental gymnastics to me. Cognitive Dissonance. Doesn't it all seem like so much work trying to rationalize?
Just look at the world around you.
Like Doug once said.

Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?